
Class 
Book 






GopigM . 



CfiEmiGtfr deposed 



San Francisco's 
great Disaster 

A Full Account of the Recent 

Terrible Destruction of 

Life and Property by 

EARTHQUAKE, FIRE 
AND VOLCANO 

In CALIFORNIA and 1 at VESUVIUS 

AND A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF ANCIENT AND MODERN EARTH- 
QUAKES AND VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS IN 
ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD 

BY 

SYDNEY TYLER 

Correspondent, and Author of " The Japan-Russia War," Etc., Etc. 

With an Interesting Chapter on the Causes of this and 

other Earthquakes, — Growing Mountains 

and Volcanoes 

BY 

RALPH STOCKMAN TARR 

Professor of Geology in Cornell University ; Formerly of the U. S. Geological Survey; 

Author of Geological Text-Books ; Lecturer and Student 

of Previous Earthquakes on the Pacific Coast 



ILLUSTRATED 



W. ZIEGLER CO 

PHILADELPHIA 



&<*<[ 
s* 



T^ 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

MAY 18 1906 

n -Copy right Entry 
CLASS ti. "Xc. Ho 
F COPY Q. 



Gopyright, 1906 

by 

SYDNEY TYLER 




PREFACE. 

San Francisco, eighth of the great American cities, 
has been visited by the greatest disaster which ever visited 
a community on this continent. Indeed, in all of the an- 
nals of the world, few calamities equal it, and, perhaps 
only the annihilation of Pompeii and Herculaneum, ex- 
ceed it in the totality of destruction. The civilized world 
has stood aghast at the spectacle of a proud muncipality 
laid in ruins. To the sudden horror of earthquake has been 
added the devastation of fire. Together these destroyers 
have swept away three-fourths of a magnificent city. Where 
rose great marts of trade, public buildings of every kind, 
temples of worship, temples of the drama ; earthquake and 
fire left only shattered and smoldering heaps of debris. 
Where were reared fifty thousand homes, centres of social 
life, monuments of the people's thrift, tokens of civiliza- 
tion, prosperity and happiness, only gnarled skeletons of 
charred timbers and blackened bricks remained. Like light- 
ning from a sunlit sky, like knife thrust in the dark, as 
dramatic, as unexpected as though the sky itself should fall 
in a molten deluge and engulf the earth, so fell this catas- 
trophe. A great city reared by the faith and toil of half 
a century well nigh perished. The world stood appalled. 

PURPOSE OF THIS VOLUME. 

History must open her pages to have enrolled among 
the tragic events of time, the story of this horror. Not only 
will the awful story remain the vivid possession of every 
man who has lived in the year and through the days when 
it k' 1 * been unfolding, but future generations will pause 

5 



g PREFACE. 

in awe to read. This volume is designed to give, with ac- 
curacy, in graphic detail, the story of the destruction of 
San Francisco. The publishers have had in mind, not only 
the present generation, but those to come after. The work, 
therefore, has been broadened. To give the readers of to-day. 
and of the years to come, a basis of comparison, to determine 
the tremendous extent of the catastrophe, the volume in- 
cludes equally graphic descriptions of the notable visita- 
tions of Providence, which in the past have left death and 
havoc where they have fallen. It is a compendium of the 
great tragedies of history, a glossary where will be found 
descriptions of the moments in the history of the world, 
when mankind has stood at bay before nature and the ele- 
ments locked in deadly struggle. In such crises the puny 
might of man stands revealed before the limitless power of 
the elements. Nature, herself, seems to shudder at her 
very power and after brief spasms of riot and anarchy, calls 
off the forces that threaten universal annihilation. In an 
hour a mighty mountain disembowels itself under the in- 
fluence of Titanic, unknown, uncontrollable, internal forces 
and two great cities are buried, to remain lost for centuries. 
The mighty ocean, breaking for an hour from the laws of 
its control, engulfs a coast, gluts its receeding waves with 
the carcasses of the dead, and leaves a city, flourishing an 
hour before, only a barren waste. In the bowels of the 
earth there -is a shudder, as though a giant writhed in his 
deep, rock-ribbed prison, and, lo! a monster city, spreading 
for miles in prosperity over densely peopled hills, totters 
and falls. Where was peace, prosperity and happiness, in 
an hour is only the scene of indescribable desolation. 
Where were tens of thousands, secure in the enjoyment 
of life, accepting to-day's realities and calling to-morrow 
their own. now are ranks on ranks of the dead, and tens 



PREFACE, J 

of thousands of the living paralyzed with the fleeting glimpse 
they have had of the awful might of powers hid in the 
far, mystic chambers of nature. 

UNCERTAINTY OF FINITE THINGS. 

The world seems secure on her foundations, the heavens 
eternal, the universe unshakable, man supreme, until, in 
one of these dread hours, the narrow border between order 
and chaos, between law and anarchy in nature's realm, ends 
man's dream of supremacy, ends his faith that the universe 
is unshakable, that the heavens are eternal, that Old Earth 
is secure on her foundations. Such a revelation is the 
destruction of San Francisco. It is not alone the posses- 
sion of the people of the day on which the awful visita- 
tion has fallen, but the property of all the ages, a pointed 
lesson of the mutability of the finite, a grim fable whose 
moral points to the realms of the Divine and infinite. The 
lesson is for all peoples, everywhere, for who can tell where 
next nature will run riot? Who knows that the next out- 
break of elemental anarchy will confine devastation to a 
single locality? Who can give security that the globe in 
its entirety will not crumble into dust when next the natural 
law is violated? 

AWFULNESS OF THE CATASTROPHE. 

The publishers of this volume have approached the 
subject in a serious spirit. They have undertaken to unfold 
the story of the destruction of San Francisco from every 
standpoint. Such a catastrophe has many aspects. In the 
first hours of shock and dismay the human side is fore- 
most. The minds of civilized peoples were filled with the 
thought of homes destroyed, of people fleeing in awful 



8 PREFACE. 

terror from a foe in the bowels of the earth, pursued, too, 
by leaping flames, devouring what the throes of the disturbed 
earth had left standing. They saw thousands hungry, with- 
out water, threatened by pestilence. They saw the unburied 
dead, they heard the cries of the wounded, and millions of 
hearts went out to the victims ; millions of purses flew open 
to send gold to succor and save. This aspect will always 
be uppermost in the history of the catastrophe. But a blow 
so sweeping paralyzes commerce and all of the linked ac- 
tivities that make a city prosperous and great. The effect of 
this aspect of the tragedy has been little less great in inter- 
est than the human sacrifice and suffering. The tide of hu- 
manity will close over the dead and only isolated hearts 
will ache. The blow to commercial life involves the whole 
community, and its wounds heal less slowly than those of 
the heart. San Francisco, for a quarter of a century, will 
feel in her industrial and commercial life, the effects of the 
blow that has fallen. This aspect has been seriously con- 
sidered. There is a scientific aspect. Earthquakes, for- 
tunately, are rare on this continent. For half a century 
scientists have been studying this problem, aided with every 
decade by broader conceptions and improved mechanical 
appliances. To-day, science confesses that, so far as seis- 
mic influences are concerned, little progress has been made. 
Every such visitation adds to the information at hand. 
The San Francisco earthquake will be the subject of study 
far more thorough, made by men far better equipped for 
their task, than any study of a similar phenomenon ever 
made. The whole world may profit by the results. It is 
too early to give results, but full credit has been given 
to the men and the means which will be employed. Tt is 
an aspect of universal concern. 

This catastrophe has given fresh proof that man is 



PREFACE. 9 

linked in an universal brotherhood. Here is an important 
aspect. The fact that the government of the United States, 
every individual State and the whole body of the people 
flew to the aid of their stricken fellows in the Empire City 
of the West will appear in flaming letters on the shaft thai 
to-day has reared to her memory in the plaisance of his 
tory. It has been demonstrated, too, that ties of sympathy 
unite the remotest sections of the earth, for, from the sov- 
ereigns of the nations of the world have come words of sor- 
row and sympathy. No student of his time, no future student 
of our time, can overlook the marvellous development in 
recent times of the spirit of brotherhood among men, and 
the San Francisco tragedy has proved a climax in this de- 
velopment. Just as, in the history of the country there has 
been no such other event to unite men's hearts, so these 
has never been so noble a demonstration of the power of 
men's hearts to feel the griefs and reach out to share the 
burdens of others. This is an aspect to which attention has 
been paid, commensurate with its importance. 

OTHER VISITATIONS. 

Vesuvius, after twenty centuries of acitvity, has only 
recently added another to the many tragedies it has oc- 
casioned. This fresh work of destruction is reviewed, to- 
gether with the ever-old story of the destruction of Pom- 
peii and Herculaneum. Other notable earthquakes, floods, 
and volcanic eruptions are recorded, with the accuracy which 
historical perspective permits. 

In the author, the publishers have been fortunate. Mr. 
Tyler is even now before the public as the author of a bril- 
liant historical work, "The Japan-Russia War." The pub- 
lishers called upon Mr. Tyler to tell, in his well-known 
graphic style, the story of the catastrophe, and were greatly 



IO PREFACE. 

pleased to immediately receive his acceotance of the task. 
His work speaks for itself. The publishers feel assured 
that the same welcome will be accorded this timely, splen- 
didly, if quickly done chronicle, that has been given to the 
several notable historical works from the pen of the same 
author. 

As in the case of the recent history of the great Far 
Eastern war, Mr. Tyler has illuminated his theme with la! 
notable collection of photographs. These are an admirable 
complement to the text. They bring before the eye, more 
graphically than any pen could tell, the story of havoc, 
jointly wrought by earthquake and fire. They show the 
city in its pride and they show that same city levelled and 
crumbled in ashes. The publishers believe that this volume 
represents a chronicle of the San Francisco disaster that will 
not be excelled, and present it to the public secure in the 
belief that it will prove, not only of interest for the moment, 
but a permanent contribution to literature, an invaluable 
possession in the homes and libraries of those who would 
have their knowledge extend to the most dramatic, and awe- 
inspiring events unfolded from the scroll of Time. 

The Publishers. 



CONTENTS. 

Earthquakes and Their Causes. 

By Prof. Ralph S. Tarr. 

page 
Vesuvius and the Earthquake — Location of Earthquakes and 
Volcanoes — The Growth of Mountains— Distribution of Earth- 
quakes — Cause of Earthquakes — Earth Crust Being Broken — 
Causes of Earthquake Shocks — Slipping of Rocks along Fault 
Planes — Mountain Growth in Progress — Future Earthquake 
Shocks — Place of Greatest Violence — Tidal Waves 17 

The San Francisco Disaster. 

No Terror Like the Earthquake — When the First Shock Came 
— Thousands in Peril of Death — A Brood of Destroyers — An 
"Earthquake City" — Have Always Feared Disaster — First Big 
Building in 1890 — The Business District — Why Water Mains 
Failed — Bedlam Follows Earthquake — Awake to Death and 
Doom — Business Section Stricken — Searched Ruins for Human 
Victims — Sweep of Destroying Angel — Streets Become Im- 
passable — Mechanic's Pavilion Morgue — Federal Troops on 
Guard — "The Dynamite is Gone" — Scene of Death and De- 
struction — Danger from Falling Walls — Valuable Records 
Found Intact — Mint and Post Office Open — A Day of Wed- 
dings — The Turn in the Tide of Flame — High Prices for 
Wagon Hire 47 

In the Path of the Conflagration. 

Became a Metropolis — Great Ferries — Many Big Buildings — 
Magnificent City Hall — Burned Area Twenty-six miles Around 
— Streets Sunk into Great Gaps — All of the Old Landmarks 
Gone — Famous Stanford Home — Reduced to Ruins — Fine Old 
Hotels — Apartment Houses — Fine Papers Burned Out — Palace 
and Grand Hotels— The Cliff House— Other Prominent Build- 
ings — Loss of the Sutro Library — Collection Never Classified — 
Ancient Newspaper File — Stanford University Losses 97 

II 



12 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Fighting Flames Without Water. 

Success Achieved at Last — The Last Stand — Credit for Work 
Accomplished — Million in Property Blown to Dust — Dynamite's 
One Victory — How the Mint was Saved — Mint Employees 
Work Rapidly — Tongue of Fire Licks Inner Walls — Defend- 
ers Exhausted — Mint Saved 137 

Caring for Three Hundred Thousand Homeless Victims. 

Safe on the Hillsides — Still Burning on Thursday — Shelter for 
the Homeless — Oakland Houses 50,000 Refugees — The Second 
Night in Camp — Ample Medical Supplies — All Social Barriers 
Down — 15,000 Sleep Under the Sky — Procession of the Home- 
less — Schmitz to Roosevelt — Supplies by Trainloads — Mili- 
tary is Placed in Charge — Cooked Breakfast in Streets — A 
Difficult Problem Solved — Medical Attention Increased — Plenty 
of Food and Water — The Rain Climax to Misery — Suffering in 
Hospitals — System in Feeding Homeless — Chinese Suffer Se- 
verely — Race Track a Camp — Work of Relief Soon Under Way 
— 300,000 to be Fed — American "Nerve" to the Fore — Cheer- 
ful in Misfortune — The Committee of Safety 151 

Survivors Tell Heartrending Tales. 

Everybody Just Walked — Joked While They Shivered — Sailors 
Using Big Guns — Shoes Cut from Women's Feet — Merchants 
Threw Stores Open — Were on Twelfth Floor — The Scene from 
the Harbor — Some Prominent Victims — Metropolitan Opera 
Company — Guarded His Valise — Slept Near the Lions — Mme. 
Eames Tells Earthquake Story — Experience of Adolphus Busch 
— Saw His Companion Killed — A Woman's Description — Shot 
to End Their Agony — The Story of a Prisoner 201 

Death the Penalty for Looting. 

Orders to Shoot on Sight — Public Opinion Sustains Order — 
Thieves Hanged by Civilians — Robber of Dead Shot Down — 

Fourteen Lives Pay the Penalty 233 

Nation Gives Millions for Relief. 

Limitless Generosity — Americans Prompt to Aid — Government 
First Appropriated a Million — Secretary Taft's Letter — Asks 
Another Million — Congress Gives Two and a Half Millions — 
Cities, Villages, Churches, Societies and Individuals Respond 
— Total Contributions 241 



CONTENTS. 1 3 

PAGE 

President Leads in Work of Succor. 

Shocked by Awful News — Humanity's Call Heard — Swift Mes- 
sages of Sympathy — President Makes Appeal — Relief Message 
to Congress — Funds to Red Cross at First — Later to Chair- 
man Finance Committee — Tribute to San Francisco 253 

Insurance the City's Salvation. 

Growth of the Insurance Business — Value of Insurance — 
Companies Liberal in Settlement — Will Increase Business — 
Companies in California — In Other States — In Other Coun- 
tries — Total Losses — Insurance Paid by Companies 269 

Funston and Schmitz the Heroes of San Francisco. 

Funston Famous Before — Exploits in Cuba — In the Philippines 
— Prompt Action in San Francisco — Acts and Receives Au- 
thority Afterward — Stories of Trouble Mongers Only Serve 
to Bring Out Testimonials — Mayor Schmitz Shares Laurels... 283 

Rebuilding San Francisco. 

The Crocker Losses — To Go Up Like Baltimore — The People 
Hopeful — Three Elements of Profit — Chinese Women Slaves — 
To Be a City Beautiful — No More of Chinatown — Chinese 
Wives to go East — Shows Faith in City — A Question to be 
Decided — Disaster of Continent — Chicago's Quick Recovery 
— $40,000,000 for Rebuilding Baltimore More Beautiful 

City Strong Financially. 

Resources of the Financial Institutions — The Municipal Bond 
Situation — People Will Soon Return — Revival of Productive 
Activities — The California Banks in a Substantial Position — 
Result of Chicago Fire — Capital Can Bear Heav}' Strain — 
Cities Hard to Destroy 299 

Great Fires of the Past. 

The Chicago Fire — 98.860 People Homeless — How the City 
Was Rebuilt — The Great Boston Fire — The Baltimore Fire — 
The Fire of London 336 

Earthquakes in America. 

Earth Tremors of California — Residents Used to Shocks — The 
First Big Fire — Sixteen Blocks Burned — Last Previous Earth- 
quake — Many Tragedies in Orient 347 

Science BaMed by the Phenomena. 

No Connection with Vesuvius — Rotation of the Earth — Prof. 
Hovey's Views — Prof. Berkey's Opinion — Many Pacific Shocks 
— An Open Question 355 



14 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

How Earthquakes Are Recorded. 

The Seismograph — Records Shock, But Gives No Warn- 
ing — A Superior Type Installed in Weather Bureau — 
A Progressive Tilting — Extreme Sensitiveness — Many Uses 
for Seismograph 370 

California, Land of Gold and Romance. 

Name Born in Romance — Franciscans in Control — Before Gold 
Was Discovered — The Mexican War — Declared Independent 
—"Stars and Stripes" Up— The Discovery of Gold.. 378 

The Vigilance Committee. 

Vigilants Begin Work — Make War on Ruffians — Committee's 
Victory — Mark Completed — 5,000 Men Relieved From Duty. . 385 

Vesuvius, the Chimney of Hell. 

Better Precautions Now — Mountain Rent Its Cone — Professor 
Perret's Account — Pompeii and Herculaneum — Description by 
Pliny-»-Darker Than Thickest Night — Dangerous and Dreadful 
Scene — A Graphic Word-Picture — Eruptions of Vesuvius- 
Pompeii an Artistic Quarry — Progress in Recent Years — Great 
Theatres of Pompeii — The Cattle Market — The Architecture 
of Pompeii 395 

Great Earthquakes of History. 

Destruction of Sparta, B. C. 464 — The Lisbon Tragedy — Fear- 
ful Havoc of Shock— The Great Rush of the Sea— A City 
Perished and Prostrate — Lima and Callao, 1746 — Peru and 
Ecuador, 1868 — Krakatoa, 1883 — Japan, 1888 — Guatemala, 1902 
— Martinique, 1902 414 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Ruins of New City Hall, San Francisco 2 

The City Hall, San Francisco, Showing Library 19 

Ruins of San Francisco — View of the Mission District 20 

Fault Lines on Yakutat Bay 25 

Elevated Beach and Wave Cut Beach, in Yakutat Bay 25 

Japanese Earthquake of 1891 26 

Effect of the Earthquake on a Brick Building 35 

The Mission, San Juan, Capistrano 36 

Buildings Partly Destroyed by Earthquake and Fire. 45 

Telegraph Hill, San Francisco, on April 20th 46 

Market Street, San Francisco, After the Fire 55 

A Million Dollar Structure in Ruins, Market Street 56 

View on Market Street, San Francisco 65 

San Francisco After the Fire, Looking Down Market Street 66 

San Francisco, Looking Over the Great City, After the Fire.... 75 

The Chronicle Building, Kearney and Market Streets 76 

Complete Destruction of Many Dwellings in the Residential Por- 
tion of San Francisco 85 

Palace of a Railway Magnate, Nob Hill, San Francisco 86 

The Crocker Residence, San Francisco 95 

Residence on Nob Hill, San Francisco 96 

Building Destroyed by the Earthquake 105 

Devastation and Ruin, Corner Howard and Stewart Streets.... 106 

Memorial Court and Arch at Leland Stanford University 115 

Arcade at Leland Stanford University 116 

Ruins of Memorial Church, Stanford University 125 

Birds-Eye View of Leland Stanford University 126 

Memorial Church at Leland Stanford University 135 

Scene Near the Empire Theatre After the Earthquake 136 

Scene in Front of the New Post Office 145 

San Francisco Fire on April 19th, Market and Valencia Streets... 146 

The Cliff House, San Francisco, Showing Seal Rocks 155 

The Ferry House, San Francisco 156 

Refugees in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco 165 

Scenes on Arrival of First Relief Train at San Francisco 166 

15 



1 6 ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

Victims of San Francisco Horror, Cooking in the Open Street 175 

Volunteers' Camp at the Presidio Military Reservation.... 176 

A Fish Alley in Chinatown, San Francisco 185 

A Street Scene in Chinatown, San Francisco 186 

Union Square, San Francisco, After the Fire 195 

Union Square, San Francisco 196 

Street Scene After the Shock 205 

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, on Music Day 206 

The Mission Dolores, Founded October 9th, 1776 215 

General View of San Francisco, Looking Towards the Bay 216 

The Tivoli Opera House, San Francisco, After the Fire 225 

The Phelan Monument, Mason and Market Streets, San Francisco 226 

A Street Scene in San Francisco, Overlooking the Bay 235 

Phelan Building, San Francisco, View Looking "Northwest 236 

Awful Rush of Flames on Market Street 245 

San Francisco from Nob Hill 246 

San Francisco Harbor 255 

Panorama of San Francisco, from Telegraph Hill 256 

San Francisco After the Fire, Corner Folsom and East Streets 265 

View in Market Street, San Francisco 266 

A Church Tower Demolished by the Earthquake 275 

Frame Residence Demolished by the Earthquake 276 

High Skyscrapers Threatened by Flames on April 19th 285 

The Palace Hotel, San Francisco 286 

Park in San Francisco, Wednesday Morning, After the Earthquake 295 

Children's Playground in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco 296 

Dupont Street, the Main Street of Chinatown 305 

A Rag- Picker's Alley in Chinatown, San Francisco 306 

View in San Francisco Looking up California Street 315 

A Joss House in Chinatown, San Francisco 3 J 6 

The Chicago Fire— The Rush for Life Over Randolph St. Bridge.. 357 

The Baltimore Fire— The Shopping District 358 

The Earthquake in Charleston, September, 1886 367 

Market Street, San Francisco, After the Fire 368 

Scene in Pompeii Showing Excavated Street 393 

The Terror of Vesuvius — People of Ottaiano Fleeing — 394 

Eruption of Vesuvius — Panic Stricken Refugees 4°3 

Ruins of the City of St. Pierre, Martinique, After the Eruption.. 404 



EARTHQUAKES AND THEIR CAUSES. 



BY PROFESSOR RALPH S. TARR, OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 



It is a human characteristic to look for coincidences and 
to allow one coincidence to counterbalance many exceptions, 
for while these do not attract the attention, the coincidences 
fix themselves firmly in the mind. This tendency is well 
illustrated in the widespread but fallacious belief in the 
influence of the moon on the weather, and of the occur- 
rence of the equinoctial storm. It is now finding expression 
in the widespread belief that because Vesuvius is in the 
same general latitude as the earthquake stricken Caucasus 
and San Francisco regions, there must be some relation. 
In proof of this assumption, other coincidences are called 
to mind; but all failures to show sympathy of earth dis- 
turbances are overlooked. It is the duty of the scientific 
men to take into account all facts, weigh them, study their 
relation to one another, and draw conclusions from all 
and not from a portion of the facts. 

VESUVIUS AND THE EARTHQUAKE. 

By such methods of study and comparison geologists 
have so far been unable to detect any definite relation be- 
tween the eruption of volcanoes and the shaking of the 
earth's crust in remotely separated parts of the earth; con- 
sequently it is all but universally held by students of the 
subject that the recent eruption of Vesuvius is in no known 
way related to the recent earthquakes. As a matter of 
faot, the eruption of Vesuvius does not appear to have 
been one of great vigor; it is certainly not to be compared 

17 



1 8 SAN FRANCISCO'S GREAT DISASTER. 

in violence with a number of eruptions which have occurred 
in other parts of the earth in the last score of years ; it was 
unusually vigorous for the present day Vesuvius, and it 
occurred in the midst of a densely populated land, conse- 
quently it attracted widespread notice. Had it been in 
Central America and several times more violent, it might 
have received a passing notice in the papers, but hardly 
more. In the same way the San Francisco earthquake 
shock is certainly not the most violent one which has been 
noticed in recent times. It is, undoubtedly, one of great 
vigor, but its destructiveness is entirely out of proportion 
to its violence, because of the accidental circumstance that 
the center of greatest disturbance passed near or through a 
large city. 

LOCATION OF EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANOES. 

The great majority of volcanoes and the recorded 
earthquakes lie in two well defined belts or great circles 
on the earth. Vesuvius lies in one of these belts, California 
in the other. The Vesuvian belt extends from Central 
America through the West Indies, the Azores and Canary 
Islands, the Mediterranean region, the Caucasus, Hima- 
layas, Philippine Islands, and a number of volcanic islands 
in the Pacific, including the Hawaiian Islands. Fifty-three 
per cent, of all recorded earthquake shocks have occurred 
in this zone. The second belt nearly encircles the Pacific. 
It includes the entire Andean chain, and the mountains of 
Western North America from Southern Mexico to the Aleu- 
tian Islands; thence it extends down the archipelasro of the 
Kurile and Japanese Islands to the East Indies, New Guinea 
and New Zealand. In this belt, forty-one per cent, of all 
recorded earthquake shocks have occurred. It is to be noted 



SAN FRANCISCO'S GREAT DISASTER. 21 

that the two belts cross at two points, one in the Philippines 
and East Indies, the other in Central America. These two 
crossing places are the seats of the most destructively ac- 
tive volcanoes and of the most violent earthquakes on the 
earth. 

Outside of these two zones there aire only a very few 
active volcanoes, and although the rest of the earth far ex- 
ceeds in area, that included in the two belts, only six per 
cent, of all recorded earthquakes have occurred in it. 

While this is true of the present day it has not always 
been the case. Geological evidence definitely proves that 
in past ages volcanic activity has been prominent in parts 
of the earth where active volcanoes are now entirely ab- 
sent. Northern Europe and Eastern United States, for ex- 
ample, now possessing no active volcanoes, were in earlier 
geological periods the seats of stupendous volcanic activity 
and with it, without doubt, of numerous and violent earth- 
quake shocks. 



THE GROWTH OF MOUNTAINS. 

The reason for the present distribution of volcanoes 
and earthquakes, and for their presence in past time where 
now they are absent, is definitely related to the growth of 
mountains. The two zones mentioned are the two portions 
of the earth's surface where mountains are at present in 
the most active state of formation. Likewise, in earlier 
geological times, when volcanoes were present in Northern 
Europe and Eastern America, mountain growth was then 
in progress in those parts of the earth. With the cessation 
of mountain growth both volcanoes and frequent earth- 
quake shacks cease. Until mountain growth is at an end 
in the two belts mentioned, volcanic action and earthquakes 



22 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

may be expected to occur throughout these zones. Just 
where or when they will occur in these zones cannot now 
be predicted; but certain sections are especially liable to 
their occurrence, and that part of California near San 
Francisco is one of the places in which earthquake shocks 
may be expected. 

DISTRIBUTION OF EARTHQUAKES. 

To make clear the difference between the conditions 
in a part of these zones of earthquake frequency and what 
by contrast may be called non-earthquake zones, we will 
compare briefly the State of California with the entire 
•United States east of the iooth meridian. For many years 
a record has been kept of the earthquake shocks which have 
visited the State of California. Between 1892 and 1898, 
these records were published by the United States Geolog- 
ical Survey, and from these lists we find that from one to 
two score of noticeable earthquake shacks have been re- 
corded each year in the State of California. Some of these 
have been of sufficient violence to have caused much de- 
struction of property and life had the center of disturbance 
been in or close by a large city. Between the years 1727 
and 1906, the number of noticeable earthquake shocks 
which visited California would undoubtedly be several thou- 
sand. 

In the same period, while there have been numerous 
slight tremors and a few earthquake shocks that have at- 
tracted attention, only four earthquake shocks of importance 
are known to have affected that part of the United States 
which lies east of the iooth meridian. The first of these, 
called the Newburyport earthquake occurred in 1727, in and 
near Newburyport in eastern Massachusetts. The shak- 



23 

ing lasted for a long time but did little damage, attention 
being called especially to it because of the peculiarity of 
accompanying sounds which were compared to wild bellow- 
ing. In 1755 occurred the greatest shock ever felt in 
New England. It was strongest and most violent in and 
near Boston, but the destruction caused was slight, in large 
part, no doubt, because of the fact that most of the build- 
ings were new, small, and built of wood. The third earth- 
quake affected the country of the lower Mississippi, with 
the center of greatest disturbance in and near New Madrid, 
in Southern Missouri. Since this occurred in 181 5, at a 
time when that country was occupied only by trappers, the 
destruction was slight ; but the reports make it clear that the 
earthquake was of great violence, and that the shaking lasted 
for fully three months. Even at the present time its ef- 
fects are visible, notably in the area known as the "sunk 
country," where the surface of the land was lowered and 
transformed to lake and swamp for a distance of seventy 
or eighty miles in a north-south direction, and thirty miles 
from east to west. The fourth and last notable earthquake 
of Eastern United States is known as the Charleston earth- 
quake of August 31, 1886. This was a vigorous earth- 
quake, but not one of first violence ; and, although the center 
of disturbance was near Charleston, the destruction in that 
city was not at all comparable to that of the San Francisco 
shock. 

The lesson to be learned from these facts is that while 
an earthquake shock may visit any part of eastern United 
States, the liabilty to earth shaking of any particular section 
is exceedingly slight. Earth movements are still in pro- 
gress there, but only locally and of moderate intensity. In 
California, on the other hand, earth movements are still 
vigorous and occurring every here and there at frequent 



24 SAN FRANCISCO'S GREAT DISASTER. 

intervals, sometimes with moderate effect, sometimes, as 
on April 18th, with sufficient violence, and sufficiently 
near centers of population, to cause great destruction. What 
is said of California apples to other portions of the two 
great zones of earthquake frequency; and what was said 
of Eastern United States applies to most other parts of the 
earth than those included in the zones of growing moun- 
tains. 

CAUSE OF EARTHQUAKES. 

The reason for the conditions which have given rise 
to the recent eruption of Vesuvius and the San Francisco 
earthquake is a subject on which geologists and geophysi- 
cists are now at work. The immediate -cause for individual 
shocks and eruptions is fairly well understood, but the 
fundamental cause for the distribution of mountains, vol- 
canoes and earthquakes is still an obscure subject upon 
which only hypotheses can be offered. Without question 
it relates to the interior condition of the earth, and this con- 
dition is believed, upon numerous lines of evidence, to be 
that of a heated interior with a cold, rigid, outer crust of 
rock. The hypothesis best supported by the facts so far 
discovered is that of contraction. The heated interior is 
believed to be steadily losing its heat, and consequently 
shrinking. The cold outer crust is settling upon this shrink- 
ing interior, and as it settles the rocks move and break 
along planes which are known fault-planes. The greatest 
areas of settling are the ocean basins, and as the crust 
settles in them a lateral thrust is exerted upon the margins 
which causes the crust to rise locally along lines of weak- 
ness whose original cause is not understood Thus the 
settling in the great area of the Pacific is believed to be 




FAULT LINES IN YAKUTAT BAY, SHOWING HOW THE 
ROCKS ARE FRACTURED AT THE SURFACE. THE CLIFF 
ON THE LEFT WAS RAISED THREE FEET. 



iff 




■■ : ■" ,: ■■■ ■■'■'■■'■- " ■■ 


f< 






r 






%-■ 


_y- 








^** ; " 1 A A'^' '■/"' ■* .,' ■'-/£•■'■ 




-->-,;• 





ELEVATED BEACH AND WAVE CUT BEACH, IN YAKUTAT 
BAY, HOISTED DURING THE EARTHQUAKE TO A HEIGHT 
OF 18 FEET. BARNACLES STILL CLING TO THE ROCKS. 



san francisco's great disaster. zj 

exerting* a thrust upon the shores of the continents and 
islands which border it. Settling elsewhere is affecting 
the second belt of weakness and consequent mountain 
growth which extends east and west around the earth. 

EARTH CRUST BEING BROKEN. 

So much is hypothesis; for the rest of the explanation 
we are able to speak with more certainty. With the 
thrust, whatever its source, the rigid crust is being folded 
and broken along certain lines, especially in the two great 
zones previously described. At numerous points lava is 
squeezed out to the surface through the cracks in the grow- 
ing mountains. In some cases, as in the Hawaiian Islands, 
this lava wells out without great disturbance or destruction. 
In others, where the vent has been temporarily closed or 
clogged, the lava is expelled with sufficient violence to 
blow it into fragments ; it then rises high in the air in the 
form of volcanic ash, which, falling back upon the earth, 
settles near the vent, building up the cone, and, as in the 
case of the recent eruption of Vesuvius, settling in smaller 
quantities on the surrounding country. The expelling 
force, whether in the case of quietly flowing lava or violent 
ash explosions, is in all cases steam. The melted rocks 
contain a vast amount of water imprisoned in them under 
great pressure and at high temperature. When finally the 
force becomes sufficient, the expansive action of the steam 
expells the lava. 

The history of Vesuvius clearly illustrates this point. 
Before the year '79 of the Christian era, the volcano was 
dormant and was not even mentioned as a volcano in 
Pliny's list, in his natural history. Its flanks were occupied 



28 san francisco's great disaster. 

by villages and farms; and, as now, a fringe of towns en- 
circled its base. Sixteen years before its outbreak, the 
renewal of activity was indicated by vigorous shaking of 
the earth. The pent-up lava was slowly forcing its way 
upward as premonition of the violent outbreak with which 
it would finally clear the closed-up vent by expelling the 
solidified lava that had accumulated there in the centuries 
of quiescence. An earthquake shock in the year 63 did 
so much damage to the buildings of Pompeii, that it had 
not been completely repaired when the final outburst of 
the volcano occurred. From the year 63 until 79, earth- 
quakes were frequent, increasing in intensity and violence 
in the summer and fall of the year 79 ; then came the ter- 
rific outbreak, without question, the greatest that Vesuvius 
has experienced in historic times, which buried the city of 
Pompeii under a heavy burden of volcanic ash. 

Since then Vesuvius has been almost continuously 
active, though with some periods of quiet which were al- 
ways followed by violent eruptions, whose intensity was 
proportional to the length of the interval of quickening. 
Sometimes the vent is kept fairly clear and open for long 
periods, and then the eruptions have been of moderate in- 
tensity. At such times, the eruptions have been those of 
liquid lava, while in the periods of greatest violence ash 
eruptions have predominated. The eruption in 1906 in- 
cluded both ash and lava and is to be reckoned as one of 
the more moderate eruptions of Vesuvius' s history, rather 
than as one of its most intense outbursts. Compared with 
one of the great eruptions of modern times, for example 
the volcano of Krakaton in the Straits of Sunda, in 1883, 
the last outburst of Vesuvius is really insignificant. 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 29 

CAUSES OF EARTHQUAKE SHOCKS. 

From what has already been said, it is evident that 
volcanic eruptions form one of the prime causes for earth- 
quake shocks, and by people in general an earthquake is 
naturally supposed to be, of necessity, an indication of vol- 
canic action. This, however, is far from the case; for, 
while earthquakes are common and necessary associates 
with vigorous volcanic eruptions, such shocks are local 
in the area which they disturb and are not ordinarily of 
the first magnitude. Earthquake shocks of this sort both 
precede and accompany volcanic eruptions, as is the case 
of Vesuvius, prior to the year 79 ; but their center of dis- 
turbance is always close by the volcano with which they 
are associated. It is true, of course, that the outbreak of 
a new volcano would give rise to earthquake shocks prior 
to the birth of the volcano. Such phenomena have been 
observed, but always in regions of already existing vol- 
canic activity. Therefore, while it is not possible to state 
with absolute certainty that a volcanic cone is not about 
to be formed in or near San Francisco, there is every rea- 
son to doubt this. The nearest large volcanoes to the city 
are Lassen Peak and Mount Shasta in the northern part 
of the State, and these are, so far as we can tell, volcanoes 
whose life is ended. 

Other volcanoes in Western United States have been 
in activity much more recently than Shasta, and, without 
question, some have been in eruption since the settlement 
of America. Mount St. Helens, in Washington, is reported 
on fairly good authority to have been in eruption before 
the middle of the last century; and even in California, 



3o 

near Lassen Peak, there is a small volcano which has 
erupted in very recent times, probably not more than a 
century and a half ago. Trees which this eruption killed, 
and others which were flooded in a lake formed by the pas- 
sage of a lava-flow across a small stream, are still stand- 
ing. Therefore, this eruption cannot be of very ancient 
date. It need surprise no one to hear at any time of the 
renewal of volcanic activity in one or more of the cones in 
the mountains of Western United States. They have 
ceased eruption too recently to warrant the assumption that 
they are extinct. The evidence of Vesuvius, with its period 
of centuries of quiet, warns us not to believe that, because 
activity has ceased for the time, it is forever ended. At the 
same time, the absence of even dormant extinct cones 
near San Francisco, leaves us little reason to expect an out- 
break of volcanic activity there, or any association what- 
soever of the earthquake of April 18th, with volcanic con- 
ditions. 

SLIPPING ROCKS ALONG FAULT-PLANES. 

The second great cause for earthquake shocks is that 
of slipping of the rocks along planes of breaking, or fault- 
planes, when the strain to which the growing mountains 
are subjected becomes so great that the rocks must either 
break and slide over one another or slip 'along lines of 
previous fracture. This may be illustrated by reference 
to a specific instance, one which the writer had the good 
fortune to study in the summer of 1905. This instance is 
in Alaska, north of Sitka, and almost at the very base of 
Mount St. Elias. At this point a great inlet, known as 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 3 1 

Yakutat Bay, extends into the very heart of the Mount St. 
Elias range, its total length being about seventy-five miles, 
and its walls being made of mountains rising from 3000 
to 16,000 feet above sea-level. This part of Alaska has 
long been known to be a region of growing mountains, 
and earthquake shocks have been frequent along various 
points on the coast, in this respect resembling the condi- 
tion in the Coast Ranges of California. 

In September, 1899, an earthquake shock of great 
violence occurred in this inlet. A party of prospectors 
were camped at a point on the shores, and their account of 
the shaking of the ground is exceedingly vivid. They re- 
port that great masses of rock fell from the mountains; 
the neighboring glacier front was greatly fractured and 
fell into the fjord; and a huge water wave rushed up the 
inlet, washing high on its shores. The earthquake began 
on the 3rd of September and there were frequent shocks 
until the 20th, the two most violent occurring on the 10th 
and 15th of the month. On the former day, between 9 
A. M. and 3 P. M., more than fifty distinct shocks culmi- 
nated in one of exceptional vigor, during which the ground 
was so shaken that it was impossible to stand up. 

Thirty-five miles from this point is 'an Indian village 
in which a number of white men also live. During the 
same period, and in the same succession of violence, shocks 
occurred of such alarming severity as to drive the inhabitants 
from their small wooden houses to tents on neighboring 
hills. During this same month, a violent earthquake vis- 
ited Muir inlet and shook the earth so violently that the 
front of the Muir Glacier was broken into pieces and thrown 
into the inlet, forming such a mass of icebergs, that for 



3 2 



three or four years it was impossible for the steamer to 
take parties of tourists up to the glacier, as had been the 
custom each summer. 

While studying the geology and physical geography 
of the Yakutat Bay inlet in the summer of 1905, my party 
had the opportunity of studying not only the effects of 
this earthquake, but also its cause. Owing to the fact 
that the region of greatest disturbance is not inhabited 
there was no destruction of life or property, but the moun- 
tain faces are scarred by huge avalanches which the violent 
shaking of the ground threw down. The effect of the 
great water wave is plainly visible along and near the shore 
line, especially where it is forest-covered. In such places up 
to an elevation of forty feet, the forest is completely de- 
stroyed and a mass of torn, twisted, overturned trees lit- 
ters the surface in such a state of utter confusion as only 
a violent rush of water could produce. 

We found that during this earthquake the mountain 
rocks enclosing the inlet had been bodily uplifted, in one 
place to an elevation of forty-seven feet. The evidence of 
this is of the clearest kind. Beaches, wave-cut cliffs and 
sea-caves now stand where they were hoisted high above 
the reach of the highest waves. On these elevated strands 
various marine animals are still clinging to the rocks, 
among them barnacle and mussel shells which, in 1899, 
were growing in the sea at levels varying from five to 
forty-seven feet below their present positions. Annual 
plants and young alder and willow bushes have since taken 
root on the elevated shores and there exists the anomaly of 
land plants growing where six years before the salt water 
stood. 



san francisco's great disaster. 33 

A study of these elevated strands shows that they 
were not all upraised to the same elevation. In one part 
of the inlet the uplifted beaches stand five feet above the 
water, in another part seven to nine feet, and still another 
eight to ten feet; at one point seventeen to nineteen feet, 
and along a stretch of coast line three or four miles in 
length, at an elevation of from thirty-three to forty-seven 
feet above present high tide mark. These differences in 
elevation are the result of the fact that the upward move- 
ment of the mountains was along a series of fractures or 
fault-planes. The mountain, as a whole, was bodily up- 
lifted in this section, but the mountain mass was moved 
higher in some parts than in others, being broken and 
raised as a series of tilted blocks bounded by fault-planes. 
In certain parts of the fjord we were able to actually see 
the fractured surface, but in other parts it was hidden be- 
neath the waters of the inlet. Where the faulting crossed 
the land the surface is fissured and upraised in a series of 
little steps or terraces. In some instances these minor 
faults show a vertical movement of not less than three feet. 
Such fracturing of the rocks must of necessity have 
sent a series of violent jars through the crust as the solid 
rocks slipped and ground over one another ; and there can 
be no question but that the earthquake of 1899 was the di- 
rect result of this slipping. How far outside of this region 
the movement of the crust extended is not now known, but 
there is a little doubt but that it extended at least as far 
southward as the Muir inlet, one hundred and fifty miles 
distant. 



34 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

MOUNTAIN GROWTH IN PROGRESS. 

Here, then, is a case of actual mountain growth in 
progress. Its effects were felt by people on the ground; 
its nature is easily recognizable at the present time, owing 
to the fact that the coast line was uplifted with the moun- 
tains. It is, indeed, fortunate that there was not a San 
Francisco here. 

At the time of writing this (April 21st), reports from 
the stricken region of California are too meager and upon 
too little scientific foundation to permit any definite state- 
ment as to the exact nature of the earthquake shock which 
has devastated San Francisco and other Californian cities. 
Enough is known, however, to warrant the prediction that 
when the facts are finally accumulated, it will be found 
that the shocks have resulted from a movement along one 
or more fault-lines extending parallel to the main axis of 
the Coast Ranges, that is, northwest and southeast. 
Geological study has clearly shown that faults are numerous 
in this part of the mountains. In fact, faults occur in the 
rocks immediately around the City of San Francisco. It 
is along some of these fault-lines that the earlier earth- 
quake shocks have developed; and a geological map show- 
ing the location of destructive earthquakes in Western 
United States, since the year 1800, shows an unusual 
cluster of centers of earthquake disturbance in the region 
between Santa Rosa and Monterey, the very region most 
severly affected by the recent earthquake. San Francisco 
lies very near the center of this area. 

In the earthquake of April 18th, the reports clearly 
show that the line of greatest destruction extends north- 



san Francisco's great disaster. 37 

west and southeast from at least as far south as Palo 
Alto, and probably farther, northward to Santa Rosa, and 
probably beyond. It is possible, that the slipping occurred 
along a single long fault-line, but it is much more probable 
that, when all the facts are known, it will be found that 
there was movement along more than one fault-plane. 

FUTURE EARTHQUAKE SHOCKS. 

The Coast Ranges have been put in a state of strain 
by the thrust which is causing them to rise. At several 
periods in the past century the strain has found relief by 
slipping, in consequence of which, in each caes, an earth- 
quake has passed through the crust. In the same way the 
strain which has been generated found relief by slipping 
on April 18th. There is every reason to believe that the 
relief of strain is but temporary. It is possible that further 
relief will be found necessary immediately, giving rise 
to a succession of shocks such as those which affected the 
Yakutat Bay region; but upon this point no definite pre- 
diction can be made, though it seems hardly probable that 
further notable slipping will occur again soon. Whether 
further relief is required at present or not, it may confi- 
dently be predicted that the strain will reach the breaking 
point at some future time, perhaps in a few years, possibly 
much longer, but come it must, and when it comes an 
earthquake shock will be generated as certainly as was the 
case on April 18th. Whether future shocks will ever equal 
or excel in violence and destructiveness, that of the present 
earthquake will depend upon the amount and rapidity of 
the slipping and the location of the fault-line. The fact 



38 san francisco's great disaster. 

that movement along fault-lines near San Francisco has 
occurred not only in 1906, but at several periods in previ- 
ous years, gives reason for the prediction that further move- 
ment will develop along these same lines, for once the 
rocks are broken and movements developed 'along them, 
further strain naturally finds relief along those older breaks 
in the earth's crust along which previous movements have 
occurred. San Francisco is situated on or near a danger 
line in the earth's crust and as long as the Coast Ranges 
continue to grow a city located there is constantly menaced 
by a natural operation of the geological processes of moun- 
tain growth. 

The violence of an earthquake shock depends primarily 
upon the amount of movement into which the rocks are 
thrown. This movement consists of a series of vibrations, 
or waves, which pass with great rapidity through the crust, 
extending long distances before they finally die out. The 
intensity of the original jar in earthquakes, due to move- 
ments along fault-planes, depends upon two factors; first, 
the amount of movement along the fault-plane; secondly, 
the rate of this movement. If the slipping occurs slowly 
the shocks are moderate; if rapid, and at the same time 
with a movement through a considerable distance, a vio- 
lent shock results. The succession of shocks through a 
series of hours or days, or in some case, even months, 
is due to successive slippings, the greatest and most rapid 
producing strong shocks and minor slips mere tremors. 

PLACE OF GREATEST VIOLENCE. 

The place of greatest violence in an earthquake is 



san francisco's great disaster. 39 

normally the source, or focus, of the earthquake. The 
point at the surface directly above the focus is known 
as the epicentrum. If the faulting reaches the surface, 
as it did in the Yakutat earthquake, in the Japanese earth- 
quake of 1892, and in many others, the breaking and As- 
suring of the surface layers naturally adds greatly to the 
destructiveness of the shock. Had San Francisco been 
situated in the most violently affected district of Yakutat 
Bay, for example, it is scarcely conceivable that any of 
its buildings could have withstood both the shaking of the 
ground and the Assuring and faulting of the surface. A 
city block, for example, under which the earth suddenly 
rises three feet on one side of a fault-plane would inevi- 
tably be completely demolished. 

Whether any surface faulting and uplifting of shore- 
lines occurred in the San Francisco earthquake, as was the 
case in Yakutat Bay, has not been stated by the newspaper 
dispatches so far received. Both of these phenomena are 
to be expected although they are not absolutely necessary 
results of the movement, since it may all have occurred be- 
neath the surface without affecting the soil. Certain re- 
ports of sunken tracks and telegraph lines may possibly 
owe their explanation to the surface manifestation of the 
subterranean movements. 

Normally, the violence and destructiveness of an earth- 
quake shock rapidly diminish away from the epicentrum. 
It is for this reason that Sacramento, lying well to one side 
of the main line of earth movement, was so slightly af- 
fected, although points much farther distant from San Fran- 
cisco in a northwest-southeast line, and therefore, along 
the plane of faulting, were seriously damaged. 



40 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

The waves or vibrations of earth movement continue 
far beyond the zone of destruction, as a wind wave gener- 
ated on the ocean travels far beyond its place of develop- 
ment. In fact, in a vigorous earthquake, like that of San 
Francisco, the vibrations in the rock may pass completely 
through the earth; but at great distances from the center 
of disturbance they are so diminished in intensity that it 
requires the most delicate instruments to record them.. 
Thus the seismographs at Washington, Baltimore, Albany,, 
Vienna and Florence received a record of the San Fran- 
cisco earthquake long before the news of the shock had 
reached these places by telegraph. A seismograph in any 
part of the earth would have obtained a record of this 
shock. It has been inferred by some that this indicates 
a great subterranean disturbance; but, in fact, it means 
merely the passage through the earth of waves which were 
generated at the center of earthquake disturbance. The 
passage of these waves is of the same character as the pas- 
sage of vibrations through a steel rail or a board, to one 
end of which a blow has been struck. 

While the violence and destructiveness of an earth- 
quake shock normally diminish in all directions from the 
epicentrum, there are exceptional conditions which intro- 
duce variations both in the violence and destructiveness 
of the shocks. Of these only one need be considered in 
connection with the San Francisco earthquake. This is 
the influence of the nature of the rock through which the 
shock is passing. In the case of solid rock, the waves 
merely cause a vibration; and if a structure upon such a 
foundation is capable of withstanding the vibration it is 
not destroyed; but in loose earth there is added to the 



san francisco's great disaster. 41 



vibration a shaking, loosening and settling of the unconsoli- 
dated materials. This not uncommonly gives rise to the 
undermining of the foundations of buildings and to their 
consequent collapse. In this connection it is noteworthy 
that the part of San Francisco most seriously devastated 
by the shaking of the ground was the lower portion nearer 
the water, where much land has been made by filling in 
the bay. it is to this fact probably that a large proportion 
of the original destruction of the city before the fire is due. 
Those structures which stood upon higher ground where 
hard rock comes up to or nearly to the surface escaped 
with very little destruction. 

While this difference of position seems of itself to 
account for the difference in the destructive effect of the 
shock, it should be pointed out that another cause for 
greater destructiveness in the lower part of the city may 
also have been in operation. The indications at present are 
that the faulting which produced the shock occurred along a 
line passing either along the water edge or else out beyond 
it in the Bay of San Francisco. This would bring that 
part of the city which was most damaged by the shock 
nearer the epicentrum. Exactly how much relative effect 
is to be assigned to these two causes can be stated only 
after careful geological studies have been made. 

It goes without saying that the destructiveness of an 
earthquake shock depends to a very large degree upon the 
nature as well as the position of the buildings. Hitherto 
violent earthquake shocks have occurred either in sparsely 
settled districts or else in the neighborhood of settlements 
where special earthquake architecture has been developed. 
The effect of a shock upon buildings of modern construe- 



42 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

tion has not hitherto been observed. Without question 
the loftiness of the structures and the overhanging cor- 
nices added greatly to the destruction in the San Fran- 
cisco earthquake. It is an interesting result of this shock 
that steel buildings have proved resistant to shaking. A 
study of the relation of modern architecture to resistance 
to earthquakes should be made in this instance; for it has 
a lesson of high importance to humanity, and the result 
of this lesson should be applied to the rebuilding of San 
Francisco. 

TIDAL WAVES. 

One terror which accompanies many violent earthquake 
shocks has, fortunately, not affected this stricken city. When 
movements of the crust occur under the ocean or along the 
coast line, uplifting bodies of land and displacing quan- 
tities of ocean water, a water-wave is commonly generated, 
as in the case of the earthquake of Yakutat Bay. A slight 
tidal wave is reported in connection with the San Fran- 
cisco shock, but no greater than might have been generated 
by disturbances in the bay itself. The absence of such 
a wave in this instance is of the utmost importance; for 
with so much of a large city located but a few feet above 
sea-level, the destruction which an onrushing tidal wave 
would produce, could not be other than frightful. The 
wave which rushed up Yakutat Bay, devastating the forest 
to an elevation of forty feet, or that following the erup- 
tion of Krakaton in 1883, which rose one hundred feet 
and killed over thirty-six thousand people, would, if it had 
reached the California coast, have left little of San Fran- 
cisco below the level of the rush of water. 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 



43 



San Francisco will be rebuilt, far more magnificently 
than before, for the people have courage and energy; and 
geographically conditions demand that a great city shall 
stand on the Bay of San Francisco. It is to be hoped and 
expected that the new San Francisco will be built with 
a full realization of the danger of the situation which this 
terrible lesson has taught. With attention to architecture 
of all the new buildings, the destructiveness of even such 
a shock as that of April 18, can be greatly lessened, should 
one ever again visit the city; but far more important is 
protection from the fire which naturally follows the throw- 
ing down of a part of a city. With intelligent study of the 
problem and proper application of the results the new San 
Francisco should be safe from a return of such widespread 
devastation as that from which she is now suffering so ter- 
ribly. 




Diagram to illustrate faulting in mountains. The black layers 
were once continuous and the rocks have been broken and moved 
along the fault plane. The dotted lines show the surface extension of 
the faults. 



THE SAN FRANCISCO DISASTER. 

Early on the morning of April 18, 1906, there was 
flashed to the world the news that an earthquake shock, 
of tremendous force, had left havoc in San Francisco and 
a score of cities within a radius of fifty miles. Swift on 
the news of this disaster was sent broadcast the word that 
great fires, springing up in a score of isolated sections of 
the city, threatened to make annihilation of the havoc that 
had been wrought. Adding terror to terror was the start- 
ling declaration that the earthquake shock had completely 
incapacitated the water system of the icity and that the 
great and efficient fire department was powerless to give 
battle to the flames. "The city is doomed,' ' was the ap- 
palling word that sent a shudder around the world. 

Thus was heralded what proved to be the greatest ca- 
tastrophe ever visited upon a people in the history of the 
world. San Francisco, all of it that contributed to the 
prosperity and greatness of the city, was "doomed." Its 
people were to be called upon to pass through a trial by 
fire, not less awful in its extent, not less terrible in its 
details than that cataclysm which in the first century de- 
stroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum. The actual number of 
the dead was not greater than in the case of the twin towns 
submerged in the outbreak of Vesuvius, but the sum of 
human terror, human suffering, of tragedy, was to surpass 
the record of this catastrophe of old. Fire and flood, and 
the destructive might of earthquake have stalked through 
many a community in the Old World and the New. Flames 
have spread destruction ; earthquakes have razed temples and 
homes, but the destroyer which laid San Francisco low 
amounted to these in one. 

47 



48 san francisco's great disaster, 

no terror like the earthquake. 

No terror equals that of the earthquake. There is 
no warning. Of a sudden, the earth seems to have drifted 
from its foundations in the universe ; the human mind reels 
under the terror of planetary instability, the power of re- 
sistance is gone ; the bravest and strongest become one with 
the weak and craven. Life, itself, for the moment loses its 
value, and the paralyzed faculties and instincts fail to gov- 
ern mind and muscle, themselves lost to the power of obedi- 
ence. In the crash of things men stand transfixed, mute, 
powerless, experiencing sensations that haunt dreams in- 
dread shapes as long as life endures. This is the human 
scar in the train of the earthquake. Beside this, property 
losses pale into insignificance. In San Francisco, all we . 3 
blended. This ordeal, alone, was enough to have left 
its story on the pages of history. But this was only 
the beginning. None will ever know just what share 
of the total havoc must be laid to the earthquake. 
It was no doubt, great. But to the stricken city there was 
not given time to right its shattered faculties. One terror 
crowded on the heels of another. Hardly have the shat- 
tered and torn remnants of thousands of great structures, 
churches, banks, hospitals and homes, settled in the dis- 
order the destruction has wrought before the flames are 
crackling over what already is the bier of the valor and 
faith and hope of half a century. 

Then followed four days of a struggle, never before 
equalled in the history of the world. It was not with the 
hope of saving their city that the people of San Francisco 
labored. It was with the scant hope of saving some little 
of it, some fragment to be the nucleus of a new city, which 
in the darkest hour of their trial every resident of the city 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 49 

knew, had the great faith to know, would rise again in even 
•greater splendor, for a future even more brilliant than its 
past had been. To bear the shock of nature in anarchy, 
with no human power to aid ; to fight sweeping flames with- 
out the aid of fire's greatest foe; to work on and on without 
food or water; to hope when there seemed no basis for 
hope, to have faith where there could only be despair; this 
was the heroic part San Francisco was called upon to play. 
And it will go down to history that in a trial, more exceed- 
ing great than any people has been called upon to bear, 
San Francisco acquitted herself nobly. Something of the 
spirit of that Father of God from whom the city at the 
Golden Gate takes its name, must have brooded in the 
pillar of smoke by day, the pillar of fire by night, which 
veiled the long tragedy. And in the closing hours of the 
battle came still other terrors to try this people. Famine 
threatened. But San Francisco had faith in the great broth- 
erhood of the cities of the States, dotting the broad reach 
of a continent that this terror would not long endure. 
Their faith was justified and the outpouring of aid from 
every section of America, will remain side by side with the 
heroism of San Francisco, a monument to the fraternity 
which unites the American people. And the terror of fa- 
mine had hardly passed before the grim spectre of pestilence 
rose in the smoke and steam from the city's wreck ; rose from 
the unburied, from the heaped havoc of the twin destroyers. 
Against this foe was raged a battle by warriors of science, 
as determined, as skilled as any ever waged. Thus, one 
after another, the city was besieged by the most terrible 
enemies against which humanity and civilization are called 
upon to war. There were four days, every one of which 
burned itself into the minds and hearts of every one who 
shared the awful ordeal. When finally the fire had burned 



5<d san francisco's great disaster. 

itself out, three-quarters of what had been San Francisco 
lay in ruins; one thousand persons had lost their lives;, 
five thousand had suffered wounds ; three hundred thousand 
were homeless; property valued at $300,000,000 had been 
destroyed. These are the tangible results. Every man, 
everywhere, who has had his day of ordeal will know that 
the results which may be put in figures are always the least 
of the results. But they furnish basis of comparison with 
other great tragedies of history and serve to demonstrate 
how without precedent was this disaster. 

• WHEN THE FIRST SHOCK CAME. 

It was 5.13 o'clock on the morning of April 18, that 
the first violent shock of the earthquake occurred. The 
territory immediately affected covers a fifth of the State 
of California. In addition to the destruction of San Fran- 
cisco, which is to be described in detail, the followng com- 
munities were affected: 

Palo Alto — Leland Stanford, Jr., University practically 
destroyed; every building seriously injured, few 
standing; loss, many millions of dollars; several lives 
lost. 
Agnews — Insane asylum wrecked by quake and subse- 
quently burned; many inmates killed, others roaming 
around country. 
Salinas — Spreckels' sugar factory destroyed; loss $1,500,- 
000; High School building, Elks hall, Masonic tem- 
ple, armory, city hall, K. of P. building, Odd Fellows' 
building, many business houses completely destroyed. 
San Jose — Many buildings wrecked ; twenty persons killed. 
Napa — Many buildings shattered; no loss of life reported; 
property loss, $300,000. 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 



51 



Stockton — Santa Fe bridge over San Joaquin river settled 

several inches. 
Vale jo — Some damage to property; loss, $10,000; no lives 

lost. 
Redwood City — Courthouse and other buildings collapsed. 
Sacramento — Buildings rocked like cradles ; postoffice and 

few brick buildings damaged. 
Suisun — Mile and half of railroad track sunk three to six 

feet; loaded passenger train nearly engulfed. 
Santa Rosa — Courthouse reported demolished and number 

of persons killed; city in flames; loss, $1,000,000. 
Watsonville — Moreland Academy destroyed by fire ; sev- 
eral buildings collapsed. 
Monterey — Chimney fell through roof of Del Monte hotel, 

killing a bride and groom and a hotel employe. 
Hollister — Grangers' union warehouse destroyed ; woman 

killed, her husband went insane. 

In connection with the destruction and loss of life at 
every one of these centers there is a story of horror. And 
any of them, alone, would add a chapter to the literature of 
the destruction that has followed in the wake of earthquakes. 
In the apalling cataclysm of San Francisco, however, these 
are submerged. They are incidents in the total of tragedy. 

THOUSANDS IN PERIL OF DEATH. 

The shock had found most of San Francisco asleep. 
Hundreds of thousands, after a moment of confused and 
paralyzing terror at the heavings of the earth, had plunged 
into the streets. Five minutes after the first convulsion 
there came a second, not so severe but violent enough to 
hurl into the streets, now thronged with people, roofs, walls, 
whole buildings, that had only been left tottering by the 



52 san francisco's great disaster. 

first shock. This was the moment when human life stood 
in greatest peril. How many were crushed under the 
avalanches of walls in every section of the city will never 
be known. Many found a pyre where they had met their 
doom. There may have been hundreds of them, there may 
have been thousands. Nor will it ever be known how many 
were injured. The helpless lay where they had been stricken, 
impaled, or buried. Hundreds of these were rescued before 
the flames reached them. The hospitals received severa! 
thousands, but to keep records in the overwhelming rush 
of work was out of the question. Definite details would 
have been obtainable were this all of the disaster, but the 
chaos of the four days, when the tempest of destruction was 
at its height, removed any possibility of this. Enough that 
upward of 1,000 persons lost their lives and hundreds on 
hundreds more suffered injury. In the swift succession of 
appalling events there was hardly time to remember wounds, 
and hundreds, even seriously hurt, went for hours and even 
days unmindful of them. 

So many have been the forms of destruction that it 
will always be an open question just what part in the general 
havoc was played by the earthquake. Hundreds of struc- 
tures, even thousands, were damaged in some degree. For 
the great majority repairs of small cost would no doubt 
have restored them. Many buildings of cheaper construc- 
tion were reduced to heaps of debris. In the finer sections 
of the city the damage was extensive. Chimneys, sections 
of walls, cornices, falling from great heights on smaller 
buildings probably did more of the damage than the actual 
shock of the earthquake. The damage to the modern 
structures, the skyscrapers, of which the city boasted a large 
number, will be the subject of the chief debate. The truth 
is, very probably that while there was the appearance of vast 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 53 

havoc, that structurally these buildings, in many instances, 
were not seriously injured and that repairs to external 
injuries would have restored them. The conclusion will 
probably be drawn, ultimately, that had there been only 
the earthquake, San Francisco, on counting the cost, had 
found it far within the calculations of men still under the 
spell of terror. The losses would have gone into the mil- 
lions, no doubt, and the story had been a notable one, worthy 
a place among the great disasters, but not one to make the 
city unique for all time. 

A BROOD OF DESTROYERS. 

It was the brood of destroyers, born of the earthquake, 
that laid San Francisco low. Fire was to have been ex- 
pected. The firemen of the city went confidently to work 
to give battle. But the whole appalling truth of peril wa> 
not known until it was discovered that the earthquake con- 
vulsions had wrecked the great water mains of the city 
and that in the face of twenty fires there was no means to 
wage war on them. Just at that moment, when streets 
were crowded and the second shock came, human life faced 
the crowning crisis ; so the city itself stood face to face with 
its greatest peril at this moment. It was a crisis that spelled 
destruction. It was told in that single word, "doomed," 
that was sent broadcast. From that moment event fol- 
lowed event in logical order until three-fourths of San 
Francisco lay a seething, charred heap of ashes. 

The story divides itself naturally into periods of days. 
Wednesday morning, April 18, marked the beginning. The 
events, the hopes and fears, of Wednesday form a chapter 
by themselves. There was a night of terror. Then Thurs- 



54 san Francisco's great disaster. 

day dawned on the destruction already wrought. The 
earthquake was now a thing of the past. But the monster 
of flame was still eating at the heart of the city; firemen 
and troops were still engaged in the unequal struggle; an 
army of homeless ones demanded shelter; there was no 
water and little food ; the dead were unburied ; the injured 
being dragged from point to point ; a throng of terror-mad 
people were battling for escape ; these and other awful facts 
confronted the authorities on this second day and its story 
is a second awful chapter. Another night of suffering 
and terror and Friday dawned. Still the fire, spreading 
destruction; still the hunger and thirst; still the homeless, 
still the problems of the day before, now increased an 
hundred- fold. So Friday, with its struggle to save; its 
hope against hope and its faith in the face of the rapidly 
vanishing city, is a new chapter in the unfolding of the 
tragedy. Now organization is succeeding chaos, the out- 
side world has been heard from; men have regained their 
faculties; the need of the hour has been methodically de- 
termined: "What of to-morrow?" rivals "What of to-day?" 
in men's minds. The worst has been reached, perhaps 
past, is the hope when Friday's chapter comes to an end. 
Then dawns Saturday. It brings fresh problems, a new 
aspect; a new chapter. Now comes the glad news that the 
fire has reached its utmost boundary. Now comes the time 
of recapitulation. Not "What is going?" but "What is left 
to us?" is the question on men's lips. And thus Saturday 
adds its score to the whole. 

Each day, moreover, is a day of detailed things,. 
Such disasters defy generalities. Step by step the path of 
the flame must be followed, its story the story of the last 



san Francisco's great disaster. 57 

building that crumbled in its path. The story, from the 
human point of view, is the story of the struggle for life 
of the individual. Here, also, generalities can carry little 
idea of the sum of the human suffering involved. So of 
every aspect of the catastrophe. Each is the sum of in- 
finite incidents and it is only in the assembling of these that 
the reader may hope to get a near view of the events re- 
corded, to catch in the sum of the minute development, 
scene, by scene, as it were, of a great tragedy the plot that 
underlies the whole. This we shall attempt to do. 

AN "EARTHQUAKE CITY." 

Although San Francisco has always been known as 
an "earthquake town" frequency of shocks rather than 
violence has been characteristic of its seismic history. 

There was a violent shock in 1856, when the city was 
only a mining town of small frame buildings. Several 
shanties were overthrown and a few persons killed by fall- 
ing walls and chimneys. Next in violence was the shock 
of 1872, which cracked the walls of some of the public 
buildings and caused a panic. There was no great loss 
of life. In April, 1898, just before midnight, there was a 
lively shake-up which caused the tall buildings to shake 
like the snapping of a whip and drove the tourists out of 
the hotels into the streets in their night clothes. Three or 
four old houses fell, and the Benicia navy yard, which is 
on made ground across the bay, was damaged to the ex- 
tent of about $100,000. 

These were the heaviest shocks. On the other hand, 
light shocks have been frequent. Probably the sensible 
quakes have averaged three or four a year. These are 



58 san francisco's great disaster. 

usually tremblings lasting from ten seconds to a minute 
and just heavy enough to wake light sleepers or to shake 
dishes about on the shelves. Tourists and newcomers are 
generally alarmed by these phenomena, but old Califor- 
nians have learned to take them philosophically. To one 
who is not afraid of them, the sensation of one of these 
little tremblers is rather pleasant than otherwise. 

HAVE ALWAYS FEARED DISASTER. 

Yet the fear of a great earthquake disaster has always 
been over San Francisco. It has accounted in great de- 
gree for the peculiar architecture of the place. It was 
only in 1890 that any one ventured to build a high struc- 
ture, and the inhabitants have been shy of brick and stone. 
The houses and the business blocks, to some extent, are of 
wood — mainly California redwood. Brick residences are 
not common. 

With the steady trade winds which prevail there at 
all seasons of the year the city should have been wiped 
out by a great conflagration long ago, and would have 
been but for the peculiar quality of California, redwood, 
which smolders in a fire and refuses to break into a bright 
and energetic blaze. Given a good water supply, the fires 
are such that they are easily handled by the fire depart- 
ment. In fact, there has never been before this what 
might be called a general conflagration in San Francisco. 

To understand this disaster it is necessary to consider 
the peculiar physical characteristics of the land upon which 
San Francisco is built. The original site was a bunch of 
high and abrupt hills ending in a peninsula, whose furthest 



san francisco's great disaster. 59 

reach forms one side of the Golden Gate, the entrance to 
San Francisco Bay. The greater part of the city proper 
is on the inner side of the peninsula, facing on the bay and 
not on the Pacific Ocean. The city has been growing out 
toward the ocean, however; and Golden Gate Park, which 
starts as a broad ribbon of land at about the centre of the 
town, has reached an ocean frontage. The city now has 
a population of more than 400,000. 

The four or five high hills were appropriated early 
in the life of the city as a residence district; and with the 
exception of Telegraph Hill, at one corner of the city, they 
hold the homes of the wealthy and well to do. The busi- 
ness district was set on the low lands in the clefts between 
the hills, and, of course, as close to the wharf-room on the 
bay as possible. 

Such land 'being valuable, this district has been grad- 
ually filled in and extended for fifty years. "When the 
water came up to Montgomery street" is a San Francisco 
phrase describing the early days. Now there are ten 
blocks of business streets between Montgomery street and 
the water front. Here lies the warehouse and wholesale 
district. 

The heart of San Francisco is "Newspaper Corners," 
only a block inland from Montgomery street, and there- 
fore verging on the old waterfront and the made lands. 
Here, on four corners, stood the Chronicle building, eleven 
stories, and the first high building in San Francisco; the 
Call building, twenty stories, and the tallest structure in 
the city ; the Examiner building, eight stories, and the new 
Mutual Bank building, twelve stories. 

Just on the edge of the made land stood the Palace 



60 san francisco's great disaster. 

Hotel, not a high building, but covering a block of ground 
and one of the largest structures in the city. Across from 
it was the Crocker building, ten stories, and the smaller 
Hobart building, in which the Postal Telegraph Company 
was housed. At the centre of the square^formed by the 
newspaper buildings stood the fountain presented by the 
actress Lotta to the city. 

FIRST BIG BUILDING IN 1890. 

As has been said, the fear of what might happen in 
an earthquake, combined with the scarcity of nearby quar- 
ries and brick-yards, kept San Francisco people from build- 
ing with a show of permanence. The first to break the tra- 
dition was M. H. DeYoung, who put up the eleven story 
Chronicle building in 1890. This was in the early days 
of skyscraper construction, and the framework of the 
Chronicle building was not of steel but of wrought iron, 
while the shell was of brick. 

The building stood, weathered a few small earthquakes 
and had nothing happen to it. San Franciscans took heart 
and began to experiment with tall buildings. In 1894, 
John D. Spreckels put up the Call building, noted as one 
of the few really beautiful skyscrapers in the country. 
This stood out of the city like a tower as viewed from the 
hills and was the most conspicuous feature on the land- 
scape of San Francisco. The Crocker Building, the Em- 
porium Building, the Wells Fargo Building, the new Bald- 
win Building and half a dozen others followed. 

In 1903, the St. Francis Hotel, a skyscraper, was 



san francisco's great disaster. 6i 

erected on Union Square. This is a little way out of the 
low era of made ground and original waterfront and had 
every reason to come unscathed out of an earthquake. In 
1905, the Fairmount Hotel, built from the Fair fortune, 
was put up on the edge of the highest hill in the city, and 
the new Merchants' Exchange Building was completed 
on California street. In fact, building mainly of large 
structures has been going forward as fast as the limita- 
tions imposed by the unions which have ridden the city 
would permit. 

THE BUSINESS DISTRICT. 

The business district lies all along Market street or 
north of it. Market street, even after it gets past the area 
of made land, is in a depression. Almost all the district 
south of Market street is on low lands, originally tide 
flats. Here are the dwellings of the poor, corresponding 
to the tenement district of New York, except that the poor 
of San Francisco are housed not in tall tenement buildings, 
but in frame houses, often of flimsy construction. 

Experience with earthquakes has shown that low lands, 
and especially made lands, suffer the most. That seems to 
have been the case in this earthquake. It ripped things up 
in the wholesale district of made lands, devastated all Mar- 
ket street and tumbled about the tenement district. 

It is highly probable that the loss of life was almost 
entirely confined to this tenement district. It is hardly 
necessary to add that the time of the disaster was its only 
mercy. The peculiar local conditions, which have packed 
most of the business traffic in one street, have made Market 



62 san Francisco's great disaster. 

street one of the busiest thoroughfares in the United States. 
In business hours it is far more thickly congested than any 
street in New York. The falling strippings of walls alone 
would have killed hundreds and thousands of people. 

Just across the Bay from San Francisco, and on the 
eastern shore, lie the suburbs of Oakland, Alameda and 
Berkeley. Oakland, a city of something more than 70,000 
inhabitants, is to San Francisco what Brooklyn is to New 
York, except that it is further away — about six miles by 
ferry. Here are all the terminals of the direct overland 
lines, and all passengers, except those coming by the 
Southern routes, take ferry at Oakland for San Francisco. 
Further along the bay shore and adjacent to Oakland is 
Alameda, a residence town on very low land. Hitherto 
Alameda has suffered from the slight earthquakes in that 
region more than San Francisco. On the other side of 
Oakland, eastward of it on the overland routes, is the 
college town of Berkeley, the site of the University of Cali- 
fornia. Carrying out roughly the parallel to New York, 
Oakland would represent Brooklyn, Alameda, FlatbusW, 
and Berkeley, Long Island City. 

WHY WATER MAINS FAILED. 

Although the water supply of San Francisco was am- 
ple, and was helped out for fire purposes by a system of 
salt water mains, the system was made to be the 
prey of earthquakes. The greater part of the sup- 
ply came from the Spring Valley lakes, some dis- 
tance south of the city on the peninsula. The chief main 



63 



ran along the backbone of the peninsula for some distance, 
but upon approaching the city it took an abrupt turn to 
the east and ran along the made lands until it reached the 
business district. From that point it was pumped to reser- 
voirs on the crests of the city hills, where it got the fall to 
supply the residence district. That disturbance of the made 
lands, which, of course, broke the water mains, cut off at 
once nearly the whole supply of the city. That possibility 
had not been foreseen in planning the San Francisco water 
mains. 

The San Francisco newspapers never mentioned the 
possibility of a disastrous earthquake, but the subject was 
always in the public mind. A common subject of discus- 
sion in San Francisco was the effect of a shake upon the 
new tall buildings. Almost all the architects declared that 
they stood a vastly better chance than low structures of 
brick and stone or ordinary frame buildings. The inter- 
locking steel structures, they declared, would sway and 
give; the worst that could be expected would be the bom- 
bardment of the streets caused by their shaking off their 
shells. In this opinion many made an exception of the 
Chronicle building, which was built on a rigid iron frame. 
As a matter of fact, the Chronicle building came out of it 
well, so far as the earthquake was concerned. 

BEDLAM FOLLOWS EARTHQUAKE. 

This, then, was the city on which the great disaster 
fell. No pen ever will adequately describe the bedlam of 
the first memorable moments after the first of the series 



64 san francisco's great disaster. 

of shocks. No pen will ever describe the spread of terror 
throughout the city, through the first awful day, following 
the early morning disaster from earthquake shock. 

The first shock came while still the mighty city lay 
deep in slumber, weary with the revelries and pleasures 
of the night before. In the quiet homes, in the crowded 
hotels, men had not yet awakened to the "strifes and en- 
deavors of the new-dawned day. The stars had but waned, 
and the morn was just breaking through the mists and fogs 
that hung in gray curtains across the waters of the placid 
bay and over the waiting hills. -In through the Golden 
Gate were blowing the first piping winds with the greeting 
of the sea. 

Then came the rumble of deep thunder from the 
mighty bowels of the startled earth. The city shook like 
an aspen leaf, and her gray highways suddenly cracked 
and split as though the batteries of Satan and hell Had been 
opened against them from underneath. Along shore the 
wharves warped and creaked, and the rakish shacks of the 
water front fell like stacks of cards. The hills of Sausalito 
and Piedmont, the Oakland heights and the dim bluffs 
of San Jose rocked like forests in the wind. The clock 
in the tall tower of the Ferry Building stopped as though 
the spirit of a demi-god were passing. The majestic struc- 
tures of steel and stone that reared their domes against 
the sky along Market street, and up and down Montgomery 
and the other splendid thoroughfares that line and inter- 
sect the mart-crowded town, swayed and swung like pen- 
dulums. Then the batteries from below broke forth again, 




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SAN Francisco's great disaster. 6y 

and still again. Shock followed shock, as though the 
enemy that lay masked beneath the buttresses of the earth 
were determined to annihilate the city by storm. 

AWAKE TO DEATH AND DOOM. 

Rude was the awakening from the slumber-bound 
night — rude and cruel with messages of death and doom. 
Into the rent and reeling streets men, women and children 
rushed, half-clothed, with blanched faces and white and 
speechless lips. The mighty terror that they had some- 
times dreaded and had often laughed at was face to face 
with them at last. Their black day of trouble had come, 
indeed. 

There is no witness of this day's story whose tongue 
or pen can describe the wreck and ruin, the death, the doom, 
the despair and suffering that lay on every hand. All 
through the horror-stricken hours the living hunted for 
the dead. Deeds of human bravery, countless and beyond 
praise, were performed. The police, the firemen and pri- 
vate citizens vied with one another in rendering that service 
which nothing can repay. Heroes without number leaped 
into the jaws of death to save their fellow human beings, 
and in more than one instance sacrificed their lives in the 
vain effort to save others. Death and sorrow leveled all 
differences, social or otherwise. Saint and sinner huddled 
alike in the gloom of this sad night; the same grief tugging 
at the heart of each. The holy men of the tabernacles and 
the ungodly denizens of the shadows walked side by side, 
the same livid fear blanching their lips. Lady of quality 



68 san francisco's great disaster. 

and woman of the slums, the vestal virgin and the painted 
harridan wept tears together. 

Fair and beautiful, from her thrice seven hills, the 
city of St. Francis had looked down upon the sunset sea. 
Now she lay a blackened, ruined thing, the pity of the 
world. Her shining streets, buttressed with towering 
structures of granite and marble and brick, hooped with 
steel and bolted with iron, are riven as though by the hand 
of devastating demons. Generation after generation she 
builded with infinite care and tireless patience until the sons 
of the four winds came to look upon her loveliness and the 
wonder of her beauty. But in the space of a few short 
hours she has been undone. There stands no keeper at the 
Golden Gate. From tower and dome and window there 
gleam no lamps of welcome. No song creeps out upon 
the mirroring waters. Where life was, there now is death. 
The dead are at peace, but the living stand with sleepless 
eyes waiting for the dreaded dawn of another day. 

BUSINESS SECTION STRICKEN. 

The successive earthquake shocks fell heaviest on the 
great business section of the city. These include the water- 
front and several square miles of territory. It is made 
ground and to the instability resulting from this fact is to 
be attributed the tremendous effect of the repeated convul- 
sions of the earth. The whole section had been built up 
with imposing business edifices, thickly settled, reaching 
from North Beach to far south of Market street. To-day 
there is only ruin. 

Included in this area is the new ferry building, one 



san Francisco's great disaster. 69 

of -the most important structures on the Pacific Coast; the 
well-known Palace and Grand Hotels, and others of im- 
portance; the Merchants' Exchange, the famous Stock Ex- 
change; great wholesale houses whose firm names are 
known throughout the country; the Nevada Bank, Western 
Union and Postal telegraph offices, the Crocker building, 
and, in close proximity, the Chronicle, the Examiner and 
sixteen-story Call newspaper buildings. 

Following the first shock, almost immediately came 
a heavier one, and then, swaying and prostrating great 
buildings came the third shock, which was the cause of the 
chief destruction. It seemed that the city was practically 
destroyed. From the ruins of the buildings shaken down 
by the five quakes that followed in such close succession, 
arose great bursts of flames which swept inward from the 
bay. Water mains had been destroyed by the quakes,rend- 
ering the fire department engines, such as could be dragged 
from fallen walls, almost useless. 

The police department was put to work early and 
w T ith the assistance of Federal troops sent from the Presidio 
military reservation on the outskirts of the city by General 
Funston, succeeded in enforcing some measure of order 
in the panic which followed the disaster. 

From lodging-houses that had fallen, and from other 
quarters, poured streams of naked or half-clothed people, 
dazed, hysterical or frenzied, not knowing which way to 
turn in the great horror of devastation and still further 
impending peril which had seized the city. 

Husbands were separated from wives and mothers 
from children. 



JO SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

Business men trembled with the thoughts of the losses 
which had befallen them and over all palled the overmaster- 
ing sense that the danger might not be ended. 

SEARCHED RUINS FOR HUMAN VICTIMS. 

The firemen, with the assistance of the volunteers per- 
mitted to work by the troops and the police, vigorously 
endeavored to discover human beings buried under the 
masses of stone, brick, mortar and wood and to snatch 
the corpses and such persons as might be living from the 
rapidly increasing volume of flame. 

At 9.45 A. M. the city was a mass of fire from Mont- 
gomery street to the water's edge. The fire fighters in 
their efforts to stay the progress of the flames, used dyna- 
mite freely in destroying structures which might have ma- 
terial for the pitiless element to fasten upon. 

South of Miarket street was a sea of roaring red de- 
struction from which came reports of exploding gas tanks. 

The city morgue was early filled and Mechanics' Pa- 
vilion, across from the City Hall, was turned into a mam- 
moth receptacle for the bodies of the dead, and as a resting 
place for the injured. 

Before 10 A. M. three hundred dead had been taken 
out, and this number grew and grew until the space re- 
served could hold no more. All the physicians, surgeons 
and nurses in the city, who had escaped alive from the ter- 
rible cataclysm, hastened to offer their assistance in the 
service of those who were in great need of help. 

Meantime, the flames spread, and new reports of death 
and demolition poured in upon the nearly exhausted work- 
ers. 



72 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

"Half of the city already is destroyed," was the cry 
"and the fire is spreading." 

From the power of the roaring furnace of flame, the 
thunder of exploding gas and other destructive agencies, 
including dynamite, it was difficult to distinguish the forces, 
and when a report went out, at 2.45 P. M., that there had 
been another earthquake shock, some thought it might be 
the trembling of the earth consequent upon vibrations of 
expanding gases and thuds of fallen weights of material. 

SWEEP OF DESTROYING ANGEL. 

With water mains broken, fire department powerless, 
and flames spreading; with morgues and hospitals filled 
to overflowing ; with electric light and power wires down; 
and telephone and telegraph communication cut off; with 
railroads crippled so that rolling stock could not be moved 
and relief trains barred from entrance; with many of the 
largest buildings prostrate and others rocking, threatening 
to fall at any moment ; and with panic rampant, the condi- 
tion of San Francisco was one of almost benumbing hor- 
ror. 

The first efforts to secure some faint conception of 
the extent of the terrible catastrophe produced pitiable re- 
sults. About all that could be told was that several shocks 
of earthquake, variously estimated at from three to five 
or more, had rent the city; that hundreds of people were 
killed and injured and that a great fire was raging on the 
South Side, and another forcing its resistless way up Mar- 
ket street from the water froK* sweeping buildings in its 
way. 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 73 

On the right side of Market street, going from the 
ferry, was the splendid plant of the Postal Telegraph Com- 
pany. Following the first outbreak, the operators of this 
company heroically remained at their posts and gave the 
first tidings of San Francisco's overwhelming calamity to 
the world. 

Subsequently, the company's power plant was put 
out of commission by the crush of falling bricks. At that 
time, half the wholesale district was burning, and there 
was no water. 

The third shock startled the city at 8.45 A. M. At 
that time telegraph and telephone communication was 
virtually at an end. The wind was blowing a gale and the 
Palace Hotel, opposite the Postal, was in flames. From 
the water front to Montgomery street was a glare of flame, 
every moment increasing the destruction and the horror. 
The massive and imposing caravansary which has sheltered 
some of the world's most famous travelers, was rapidly 
emptied of guests and employees. 

At least fifty large blocks lay in ruins at 9.30 A. M., 
and the damage to others could not be estimated. 

The water front was a scene of entire wreck and de- 
struction. 

STREETS BECOME IMPASSABLE. 

Horrors accumulated. The streets were impassable on 
account of the great masses of fallen and burned structures. 

In some of the principal streets great fissures ap- 
peared. 

New fires broke out in different parts of the city, and 
it seemed that if the wind did not change the entire me- 
tropolis must go. 



74 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

The Western Union Buildng and Associated Press 
headquarters at 302 Montgomery street were demolished 
and hasty quarters were established elsewhere. The Sun- 
set and long distance telephone services were soon out of 
business. 

It was learned that there was a quake down the coast, 
possibly beyond San Luis Obispo; that San Jose was de- 
stroyed; and that Salinas, Watsonville and other towns in 
that region had suffered exceedingly ; that Napa was partly 
destroyed and that the damage and suffering had extended 
eastward into Nevada and even beyond. 

Panic reigned. Those who could do so tore madly 
through devious courses to the blackened, smoking water 
front, hoping to escape by ferryboats or other craft across 
the bay. Street cars were out of commission and people 
rushed madly along as best they might. 

Everything was gone on Market street from First to 
the ferry on both sides of the street, although the Palace 
and Grand Hotels resisted the sweep of the flames longer 
than other structures. 

From Sixth street, on the west, to the water front, 
on the east, south of Market street roared the destructive 
element, and the Jessie street side of the Palace Hotel 
caught fire. 

From Market street to Washington and from San- 
some to the water front was another mass of flame to the 
northward. 

The sweep of the winds carried burning brands into 
the outlying district and soon a block on Mission street, 
between Twenty-first and Twenty-second streets, was 
ablaze. This is several miles from the business section, 




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SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. J J 

and threatened with detruction should the fire continue 
to spread, the southern residence section of the city. 

With the disaster only a few hours old, thousands of 
people were homeless and destitute, and all day long streams 
of people fled from the stricken districts to places of safety. 

The furious fires raged all day, and the fire depart- 
ment was powerless to do anything except to destroy the 
buildings threatened. All day long explosions shook the 
city, and added to the terror of the inhabitants. 

All efforts to prevent the fire from reaching the Palace 
and Grand Hotels were unsuccessful, and both were com- 
pletely destroyed, together with all their contents. 

All of San Francisco's best playhouses, including the 
Majectic, Columbia, Orpheum and Grand Opera House were 
destroyed. The earthquake demolished them for all prac- 
tical purposes, and the fire completed the work of destruc- 
tion. 

The handsome Rialto and Casserly Buildings were 
burned to the ground, as was everything in that district. 

MECHANICS' PAVILION MORGUE. 

The scene at the Mechanics' Pavilion during the early 
hours of the morning and up until noon when all the injured 
and dead were removed because of the threatened destruc- 
tion of the building by fire, was one of indescrible sadness. 
Sisters, brothers, wives and sweethearts searched early 
for some missing dear ones. Thousands of persons hur- 
riedly went through the building inspecting the cots on 
which the sufferers lay, in the hope that they would find 
some loved one that was missing. 

The dead were placed in one portion of the building 



78 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 



and the remainder was devoted to hospital purposes. After 
the fire forced the nurses and physicians to desert the 
building, the eager crowds followed them to the Presidio 
and the Children's Hospital, where they renewed their 
search for missing relatives. 

More than seven hundred and fifty persons who were 
seriously injured by the earthquake and the fire had been 
treated at the various hospitals throughout the city by 
Wednesday afternoon. 

The front of the Bailey and Lacist Building on Clay 
street, near Montgomery, fell in killing three men. 

Captain Gleason of the Police Department was seri- 
ously injured at noon by the falling of tiling. 

The stereotypers and pressmen of the Examiner and 
the Call, as soon as the shock was felt, rushed out of their 
buildings and found a coffee house at Stevenson and Third 
streets had collapsed. They at once set to work with axes, 
and everything in the way of an implement with which 
they could provide themselves, to rescue those inside. 

FEDERAL TROOPS ON GUARD. 

Mayor Schmitz was about early, and took measures 
for the relief and protection of the city. General Funston 
was quickly communicated with and by 9 o'clock the Fed- 
eral soldiers were guarding the streets and assisting the 
firemen in dynamiting buildings. 

General Funston realized that stern measures were 
necessary, and gave orders that looters were to be shot at 
sight. Four men were summarily executed within six 
hours. 

At a meeting of fifty citizens called by the Mayor it 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 



79 



was announced that 1400 tents would be pitched in Golden 
Gate Park, and arrangements had been made to feed the- 
destitute in the public squares. A Finance Committee, with 
James D. Phelan at the head, was appointed and Mayor 
Schmitz was instructed to issue drafts on this committee 
for all funds needed. 

"THE DYNAMITE IS GONE." 

Throughout Wednesday the fires that immediately 
followed the earthquake burned unchecked. Vast columns 
of smoke arose from a half dozen sections of the city, an- 
nouncing to adjacent cities and towns that destruction was 
under way. The firemen, robbed of the only effective foe 
of fire by the breaking of the city water mains secured the 
entire supply of dynamite to be found in the city. They 
destroyed building after building in the path of the fire 
but without avail. The little gaps they made utterly failed 
to check the conflagration which, while it burned slowly, 
was none the less stubborn and resistless. Although the 
failure of the heroic efforts of the police, firemen and sol- 
diers was at times sickening, the w^ork was continued 
with a desperation that will live as one of the features of 
the terrible disaster. Nevertheless, while the people knew 
that the fire fighters were at work, even if they were de- 
pending on the uncertain aid of dynamite, there was a cer- 
tain amount of confidence that somehow they would win. 

This hope, too, was to vanish. In mid-afternoon it 
developed that the last charge of the explosive had been 
used. The firemen gazed into each others' eyes in des- 
pair. "The dynamite is gone!" was the word. The full 
import of this new catastrophe was immediately recog- 



80 SAN FRANCISCO^ GREAT DISASTER. 

nized. "The city is doomed !" was the conclusion each one 
reached in his own mind. Presently someone coupled the 
phrases and then they sped around the city, from mouth to 
mouth, the dreadful culminating fact in the long series of 
horrors : 

"The dynamite is gone and the city is doomed." It 
was the apotheosis of San Francisco. 

Meantime the fire kept eating out the heart of the city. 

It seemed that the acme of its misery was reached at 
dusk, when flames burst from all sides of the beautiful 
Hotel Fairmount, the structure above every other which 
was apparently most strongly protected from the oncoming 
fire. 

Surrounding that lofty pinnacle of flames as far as 
the eye could see to the south, to the east, and far out to 
the west lay in cruel, fantastic heaps, charred and smoky, 
all that remained of a prosperous city. 

SCENE OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION. 

Day dawned on a scene of death and destruction. 
During Thursday night the flames had consumed many of 
the city's finest structures and skipped in a dozen direc- 
tions to the residence portions. They had made their way 
over into the North Beach section and, springing anew to 
the south, they reached out along the shipping section down 
the bay shore, over hills and across toward Third and 
Townsend streets. Warehouses and manufacturers' con- 
cerns fell in their path. This completed the destruction 
of the entire district known as the "South of Market 
street." 

After darkness thousands of homeless made their way 



san francisco's great disaster. 8l 

with their blankets and scant provisions to Golden Gate 
Park and the beach to find shelter. Those in the houses 
on the hills just north of the Hayes Valley wrecked sec- 
tion piled their belongings in the streets, and express 
wagens and automobiles were hauling the things away 
to the sparsely settled regions. 

Hundreds of troops patrolled the streets and drove 
the crowds back, while hundreds more were set to work 
assisting the fire and police departments. The strictest 
orders were issued, and in true military spirit the soldiers 
obeyed. The curious were driven back at the breasts of 
the horses of the cavalrymen, and all the crowds were 
forced from the level district to the hilly section beyond to 
the north. 

The magnitude of the calamity became apparent 
when the sun rose and dissipated the pall of darkness that 
hung over the city. Looking eastward from the heights 
in the central portion of the city, everything attested to 
the awful havoc wrought by earthquake and flame. Where 
once rose noble buildings, stood nothing but frail walls, 
tottering chimneys, heaps of twisted iron and huge piles 
of brick and mortar. Adding to the horror of the situa- 
tion was the fact that the work of destruction had not 
reached its conclusion and that the flames were raging 
beyond control. 

It was with grief and horror that the community 
viewed the ruin. The people were seemingly half dazed 
by the magnitude of the disaster. 

Policemen were stationed at some of the retail shops, 
regulating the sale of foodstuffs and permitting only a 
small portion of goods to be delivered to each purchaser, 



82 san francisco's great disaster. 

the idea being to prevent a few persons from gathering 
in large quantities of supplies. 

The military was unusually strict in observing the en- 
forcement of the order to shoot all looters. One man on 
Market street, who was found digging in the ruin of a 
jewelry shop, was discovered by a naval reserve man and 
fired upon three times. He sought safety in flight, but 
the reserve man brought him down, running a bayonet 
through him. The bodies of three thieves were found 
lying in the streets on the south side. Many reports of 
looters being killed by the troops were current. Con- 
certed action of any kind, in fact, was out of the ques- 
tion, and almost every official acted on his own responsi- 
bility, it being a physical impossibility to communicate with 
superior authorities. 

DANGER FROM FALLING WALLS. 

At first some sort of systematic communication could 
be had by means of automobiles, but after two days of the 
fire every street was piled high with ruins, and to add to 
this trouble there was constant danger from falling walls. 
On miles of streets the front walls of ruined build- 
ings, still stood, swaying with the concussions of 
distant dynamite explosions and the rising winds. Fre- 
quently a crash of stone and brick, followed by a cloud 
of dust, gave warning to pedestrians of the danger of 
travel. 

All manner of reports of death and disaster came to 
the temporary headquarters of the authorities, but these 
reports were received guardedly, allowance being made 
for the likelihood of exaggeration, due to the confusion 
.that prevailed. 



san francisco's great disaster. 83 

The fire on Sunday morning, at 7 o'clock, was burning 
grain sheds on the water front about half a mile north of 
the ferry station. It was confined to a comparatively 
small area by the work of fireboats on the bay and the fire- 
men on shore who were using salt water pumped from the 
bay in the effort to prevent it from reaching the ferry 
building and the docks in that immediate vicinity. 

On the north beach the fire did not reach that part of 
the water front lying west of the foot of Powell street, 
The fire on the water front was the only one burning. 
The entire western addition of the city lying west of Van 
Ness avenue was safe. The flames north of the ferry 
were under control at 8.30. They had burned as far south 
as the Lombard street dock, where they were checked by 
the firemen and soldiers under General Caster. 

Everything except four docks was swept clean from 
Fisherman's Wharf, at the foot of Powell street, to a point 
around westerly almost to the ferry building. This means 
that nearly a mile of grain sheds, docks, and wharves were 
added to the general destruction. 

In the section north of Market street the ruined dis- 
trict practically bounded on the west by Van Ness 
avenue, although in many blocks the flames destroyed 
squares to the west of that thoroughfare. 

The Van Ness avenue burned line runs northerly to 
Greenwich street, which is a few blocks from the bay. 
Then the boundary goes up over Telegraph Hill and down 
to that portion of the shore that faces Oakland. Practically 
everything in the district bounded by Market street, Van 
Ness avenue, Greenwich street, and the bay is in ashes. 

On the east side of Hyde Street Hill the fire burned 
down to Bay street and Mongomery avenue, and stopped 



84 san francisco's great disaster. 

at that intersection. All south of Market street, with per- 
haps some exceptions in the vicinity of the Pacific Mail 
dock, is gone. This section is bounded on the north by 
Market street, and runs south to Guerrero street, goes out 
that street two blocks, turns west to Dolores, runs west 
six blocks to about Twenty-second, taking in four blocks 
on the other side of Dolores. 

The fire then took an irregular course southward, 
spreading out as far as Twenty-fifth street, and going 
down that way to the southerly bay shore. 

VALUABLE REDORDS FOUND INTACT. 

The best news for property owners was that the rec- 
ords in the Hall of Records had been found intact. Had 
they been destroyed, a great tangle over real estate titles 
would have been the rsult. Now all such matters can be 
adjusted speedily. It was found that the Federal Court 
records also were unharmed. 

The great modern steel structures were practically 
uninjured by the earthquake, except for cracked walls and 
displaced plaster. All these structures of course subse- 
quently were badly damaged by the flames so far as the 
inner construction is concerned, but the walls are, in most 
cases, intact. 

The most notable cases of practical immunity from 
the shock were the St. Francis Hotel, the Fairmount Hotel, 
the Flood Building, the Mills Building, the Spreckels Build- 
ing, and the Chronicle Building. 

M. H. DeYoung, publisher of The Chronicle, tele- 
graphed to Charles J. Brooks, his New York representa- 
tive: 



san francisco's great disaster. 87 

"We have not missed an issue. New building all right. 
Will finish and occupy as quickly as possible. Tell all our 
friends that we appreciate all they have done for us. 
Everybody connected with the business and editorial de- 
partments are all well." 

MINT AND POST OFFICE OPEN.! 

The branch of the United States Mint on Fifth street, 
and the new Post Office at Seventh and Mission streets 
are striking examples of the superiority of workmanship 
put into Federal buildings. The old Mint Building, sur- 
rounded by a wide space of pavement, was absolutely un- 
harmed. The Mint was able to resume business at once. 

The Post Office Building also was virtually undam- 
aged by fire. The earthquake shock did some damage to 
the different entrances to the building, but the walls are un- 
injured. Every window pane, of course, is gone, as they 
are in almost every building in town, but the Government 
was able to resume postal business immediately. 

The Fairmount Hotel, while seriously damaged in the 
interior, was left intact as to the walls, and the manage- 
ment offered space in the building to any of the various 
Relief Committees who desired to house the homeless or 
to store supplies. 

Mission Dolores Church, the oldest building in the 
city, erected one hundred and thirty years ago by the Span- 
ish missionaries, survived the earthquake shock and was 
saved from the fire. It is constructed of adobe blocks. 
The newer church, built of brick alongside of the old build- 
ing, suffered from the earthquake. 

A trip through the burned districts on Saturday re- 



88 



san Francisco's great disaster. 



vealed a scene of unspeakable desolation. From many 
points on Market street, as far as the eye could reach in 
any direction, there was nothing but skeleton walls and 
smoldering ruins. 

San Francisco was not destroyed by the earthquake. 
While old buildings in that part of the city, which stood 
on "made" ground east of Montgomery street, and some 
of that district lying south of Market, suffered from the 
shock, it was fire that wrought the great devastation and 
wiped out the entire business section and probably half of 
the residence section. 

Much of the vigilance of the military authorities was 
devoted to the enforcement of the orders of the Mayor 
that no fires should be built in any buildings until after 
chimneys had been duly inspected and that no lights should 
be lighted in any houses. 

In many cases persons who had fled from their homes 
in fear of the advance of the fire returned next evening and 
again took possession. Some of these at nightfall lighted 
lamps. Others attempted to make fires. In almost every 
case citizens interposed, and when they could not make the 
Mayor's order effective the military was called in. 

In many cases persons built fires in the streets in or- 
der to cook food. But as the wind was blowing high these 
fires were forbidden and citizens and the military quickly 
had them put out. 

On Sunday, rude altars set up in the open spaces of 
the burned city, formed centers of worship for the home- 
less, churchless thousands. It was a Sunday in striking 
contrast to the Easter day, just one week before, when San 
Francisco was on parade with all its wealth and finery. 

Many ministers preached to crowds of dirty, bedrag- 



san francisco's great disaster. 89 

gled men and women, the same who a week ago had made 
the Easter parade so gay and splendid. All over the parks 
there were congregations gathered around ministers, 
who preached from cracker boxes, or whatever improvised 
pulpit they could find. 

One or two of the churches were able to have services 
indoors, but most of the churches lucky enough to escape 
burning were damaged so badly as to be unsafe. In some 
places the pastors preached from the steps of their ruined 
churches. Nearly all the refugees listened to sermons. A 
more religious day San Francisco has" not spent in years. 

A DAY OF WEDDINGS. 

This first Sunday after the disaster was a day of wed- 
dings. It was amazing in a way to see a people, with their 
city destroyed, yet ready to marry and give in marriage. 
In this city marriage licenses are part of the formality of 
weddings. The romantic couples who wanted to wed in 
the face of disaster would have been embarrassed but for 
the city clerk who rescued the book of blanks for marriage 
licenses from the ruins of the City Hall on Friday. 
Young people who were betrothed before the earthquake 
decided to face the future as one. In a few cases the be- 
trothals dated after the earthquake and the romances grew 
out of common danger and fearful experiences together 
while the great fire was raging. 

THE TURN IN THE TIDE OF FLAME. 

Sunday marked the turn in the tide of disaster. It 
became evident that the tremendous battle with the flames, 



90 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

which had been waged on Saturday, had met with a marked 
degree of success and San Franciscans realized now that a 
portion of their city would be saved. On Sunday, too, it: 
became possible for the city and Federal officials to give al- 
most undivided attention to the work of relief. 

Mayor Schmitz heralded the hopeful news in a proc- 
lamation, which will remain one of the historical features 
of the catastrophe. This was his message: 

"To the Citizens of San Francisco : 

"The fire is now under control and all danger is passed. 
The only fear is that other fires may start should the peo- 
ple build fires in their stoves and I therefore want all citi- 
zens not to build fires in their homes until the chimneys 
have been inspected and repaired properly. All citizens 
are urged to discountenance the building of fires. I con- 
gratulate the citizens of San Francisco upon the fortitude 
they have displayed and urge upon them the necessity of 
aiding the authorities in the work of relieving the desti- 
tute and suffering. For the relief of those persons who are 
encamped in the various sections of the city everything pos- 
sible is being done. In Golden Gate Park where there are 
approximately 200,000 homeless persons, relief stations 
have been established. The Spring Valley Water Com- 
pany has informed me that the mission district will be sup- 
plied with water this afternoon, between 10,000,000 and 
12,000,000 gallons daily being available. Lake Merced 
will be taken by the Federal troops and that supply pro- 
tected." 

A clear sky over the mission district showed to those 
who were watching the progress of the fire that it had been 
extinguished in that direction. The spread of the flames 



san francisco's great disaster. 91 

toward the western addition, the best part of the city re- 
maining, had been stayed and the only part of the con- 
flagration that now demanded the attention of the fire- 
men was that extending from Nob Hill section down to 
the northwestern part of the water front. The western 
addition danger was averted at 2.30 o'clock on Sunday 
morning by the use of gun cotton, dynamite and two 
streams of water. The explosives were handled by the 
chief gunner of the Mare Island Navy Yard, and his ac- 
complishments proved him to be a master of his profes- 
sion. 

Both the Mayor and Chief of Police Dinan, when 
asked for statements, expressed themselves as thankful that 
the fire was virtually controlled. Chief Dinan said that 
the order of the city astonished him. He thought it due 
to earlier severe measures taken by trie soldiers and police 
in shooting down offenders. 

The only bank in the huge ruined district that escaped 
destruction was the Market Street Bank, at the corner of 
Seventh and Market streets. It is in the gutted Grand 
Building, but on the ground floor. 

A corner of the city near the Pacific Mail wharves 
at Second and Brannan streets was not ruined and the 
Sailors' Home was saved. 

The Postal Telegraph Company, on Sunday night, 
restored its cable connection with the Orient by establishing 
a station at Ocean Beach. 

Thousands of members of families were still separated 
and with no means of learning one another's whereabouts. 
The police opened a bureau of registration to bring rela- 
tives together. 



92 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

HIGH PRICES FOR WAGON HIRE. 

It was impossible to secure a vehicle except at exor- 
bitant prices. One merchant engaged a teamster and his 
horses and wagon, agreeing to pay $50 an hour. Charges 
of $20 for carrying trunks a few blocks were common. 
The police and military seized teams wherever they re- 
quired them; their wishes being enforced at revolver point 
if the owner proved indisposed to comply with the de- 
mands. 

A policeman reported that two groceries in the neigh- 
borhood were closed, although the clerks were present. 
"Smash the stores open," ordered the Mayor, "and gaurd 
them." 

The work of relief started early on Sunday. A 
big bakery in the saved district started its ovens and ar- 
ranged to bake 50,000 loaves before night. Thousands of 
people were in line before the California street bakery. 
The police and military were present in force and each per- 
son was allowed only one loaf. 

The homeless people in the parks and vacant lots were 
provided for as speedily as possible. The destitution and 
suffering was indescribable. Women and children who had 
comfortable homes a few days before slept — if sleep came 
at all — on hay on the wharves, on the sand lots near North 
Beach, some of them under the little tents made of sheeting, 
which poorly protected them from the chilling ocean winds. 
The people in the parks were possibly better off in the mat- 
ter of shelter, for they left their homes better prepared. In- 
structions were issued by Mayor Schmitz to break open 
every store containing provisions and distribute them to the 
thousands under police supervision. The Young Men's 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 93 

Hebrew Association's hall, near Golden Gate Park, was 
stocked with provisions for the use of needy victims in the 
adjacent fields. 

The Southern Pacific Company succeeded in getting 
the first train through on the coast division on Friday night. 
It ran into the station at the corner of Third and Towns- 
end Streets. Large gangs of men worked night and day 
until they opened the whole division. 

The automobile played an important part in San Fran- 
cisco, first by carrying dynamite from place to place in the 
fight against the fire, in transporting troops and firemen to 
places of danger, in bringing in supplies and forwarding 
press matter and telegrams to Oakland, and in a thousand 
other ways that proved valuable. 

Almost every private machine in the city was in use, 
many of them voluntarily tendered, others seized by the 
military authorities. 

The drivers were impressed into service. Working 
day and night from the hour of the earthquake, some of 
these operators were without sleep for days. As a result 
several of the chauffeurs fell into collapse in front of the 
municipal headquarters. 

On the steps of the shattered churches and on the green 
slopes of parks and cemeteries people assembled at the usual 
hours on Sunday for religious services. Grateful for the op- 
portunity to publicly express thanks for their preservation 
and anxious for the words of cheer and comfort that will 
carry them through future trials, the people assembled in 
even larger numbers than was customary. There was no dis- 
tinction as to sect or denomination, the gatherings includ- 
ing as a rule a large percentage of the families camping 
cr residing in the vicinity. Catholic clergymen celebrated 



94 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

masses in the Jewish cemetery and every creed knelt with 
bowed heads while the services were in progress. 

On the steps of St. Mary's Cathedral and on the up- 
heaved pavement of Golden Gate avenue, overlooking the 
blackened waste that begins just across the street, Arch- 
bishop Montgomery celebrated mass at 8 o'clock. The 
service was attended by thousands, covering the church 
steps and extending well up and down the street in either 
direction. 

The Archbishop's words and his reTerence to the death 
of Fire Chief Sullivan affected the entire assemblage, tears 
streaming down hundreds of faces upturned to the tiny 
altar in the open doorway of the vestibule. 

Five masses were celebrated at St. Mary's Cathedral, 
The Archbishop in his sermon recommended to the people 
that they be at all times submissive to the authorities, civil 
and military. 

Close to the graves in Calvary Cemetery, on the nar- 
row porch of a tiny house that stands within the graveyard 
inclosure, three masses were celebrated for the congrega- 
tion of Holy Cross Church. They were largely attended, 
and the theme of the sermons was hope and courage in the 
face of adversity. 



IN THE PATH OF THE CONFLAGRATION 

San Francisco Bay is a long inlet in the western 
coast of California, forty-two miles long and from five to 
twelve miles wide. A long arm of land separates it from 
the ocean. The middle of that long ocean arm is pierced 
by a connecting link of water four miles long and one mile 
wide; that is the Golden Gate. South of the Golden Gate 
is a peninsula. And on the northern end of that tongue of 
land is San Francisco, the metropolis of the West, the largest 
city west of the Missouri River, the tenth largest city in 
the country, with a population of more than 400,000. 

San Francisco is an Old city. The first settlement made 
on the hilly peninsula was in 1769, when a party of Domini- 
can padres who were looking for Monterey discovered the 
San Francisco Bay. The town was named after St. Francis, 
the founder of the order. In 1776 Governor Duigo Borica 
sent Don Pedro de Alberni to report upon the upper end 
of the southern peninsula as a place for a growing town. 
Having decided that both water and wood was too scarce 
on the peninsula to support a growing village, Don Pedro 
reported that the worst place in all California to start a 
city was what has become San Francisco. 

Commodore Montgomery took possession of San 
Francisco for the United States in 1846, while Mexico and 
the United States were at war. Previous to the discovery 
of gold in the late forties the little town on the bay or 
eastern corner of the southern peninsula had but a thou- 
sand inhabitants. It grew up like a mushroom from that 
time on, in spite of its five destructive fires between 1848 
and 185 1, which swept out of existence the business section 
of the city and destroyed $16,000,000 worth of property. 

97 



qS SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

BECAME A METROPOLIS. 

San Francisco became, nevertheless, the metropolis of 
the gold-producing section. It was filled with a class of ad- 
venturous young men, and it had few old men and few 
women. Following the great fires, the town was so upset 
that a Vigilance Committee was made up to preserve order. 
For several years the law of the land was the committee, 
and many a man was hung because the committee so willed 
it. Crude as was this administration of law, it was effective . 
and San Francisco grew amazingly. In i860 the population 
was 56,802; in 1880 it was 233,959. The United States 
census gave it 342,782 in 1900, and now it claims over 
400,000. 

The population of the city is the most cosmopolitan 
in the country, one-third of the people being of foreign 
birth. Of the foreign element the Germans predominate 
with some 40,000, the Irish coming next with nearly 25,000 
souls. The Chinese now number possibly less than 25,000, 
and it is reported that the number is diminishing yearly. 
The Japanese of late years have been coming into the city 
fast. The Oriental atmosphere is more pronounced in San 
Francisco than in any other city of the United States. 

Despite the saying of the old Spaniard in the early days 
that the peninsula by the bay was the worst place in all Cali- 
fornia upon which to found a town, its position has helped 
San Francisco in its remarkable growth. It is the boast 
of California that all the navies in the world might ride 
in the land-locked bay. Shut in on all sides by rocky moun- 
tains of from 1000 to 2000 feet in height, San Francisco 
Bay is a perfect natural harbor, to which the shipping of 
the West has been naturally attracted. 

The upper end of the bay connects with San Pablo 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 99 

Bay, which is some ten miles in diameter, and that in turn 
connects with Suisun Bay by the Strait of Karquines. 
The waters of the Sacramento and San Joaquin empty 
into Suisun Bay. 

The situation of the city upon its peninsula gives it a 
unique climate. The Summer trade winds blow across the 
city, and during thirty years of observation the lowest 
temperature recorded was 29 degrees and the highest 100, 
while the lowest mean temperature for any one month in 
that period was 46 degrees and the highest 65 degrees. 
Semi-tropicaltplants grow there in the winter. 

And so because of its harbor, its climate, and its sur- 
rounding country, San Francisco grew to be the metropolis 
of the Pacific Coast. Its harbor is the chief cause of its 
upbuilding. From San Francisco run steamship lines to 
China and Japan, Australia, Mexico, Central and South 
America and the Hawaiian and Philippine Islands. An ac- 
tive coastwise trade centres at San Francisco. The activity 
of trade in the city is reflected by its bank clearings, which 
were more than a billion dollars in 1902. Since the Spanish- 
American war and the Russo-Japanese war trade through 
the Western port has increased enormously. 

The western side of the long southern peninsula is 
hilly, sloping down to the eastward to the bay, where along 
the northeastern shore much of the ground now occupied 
by the wholesale and banking and real estate buildings has 
been made by filling in. Some of the houses in these sec- 
tions are built on piles driven down to bed rock. Along 
the southern edges of the city are several suburban settle- 
ments, and across the bay on the main coast to the eastward 
are Oakland, Port Richmond, Berkeley, Sausalito, Alameda, 
and other suburban places. 

The city covers forty-seven square miles and there are 

LOFfc 



IOO SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

750 miles of streets and twenty miles of boulevards. The 
city is governed by a charter adopted by the people in 1900. 
The city is free from debt. There is a provision in the 
charter that only one per cent, of the assessed valuation of 
property may be collected for ordinary municipal purposes, 
but a clause makes provision for the levying of an extra 
tax to meet extraordinary requirements. The assessed 
value of San Francisco property in 1903 was $428,000,000. 

GREAT FERRIES. 

The Southern Pacific Railway is the only one that 
comes into San Francisco from the South by the mainland. 
The other systems take passengers to the city by huge 
ferryboats from Oakland and Point Richmond, across the 
bay. Even the Southern Pacific uses ferries into the city. 
Practically all who go to San Francisco by the land enter 
through the biggest ferry house in the world, which is 
at the northeast corner of the peninsula on the bay side. 

The State maintains this ferry building, whose iron 
work was twisted by the earthquake. It is over 800 feet 
long, built of light-colored sandstone, and surmounted by 
a clock tower. The building contains a lofty nave, which 
is frequently used for exhibit purposes by the State. A 
complete exhibit of the mineral resources is maintained 
there by the State Mining Bureau. The ferry building is 
marked by quite a little architectural beauty. 

Coming on the various big ferries from the railway 
terminals across the bay to the eastward, the traveler goes 
through the ferry building out to see San Francisco. Stretch- 
ing out in front of him is Market Street, the main thor- 
oughfare of the city, corresponding to New York's Broad- 
way. It runs southweshvardly across to about the middle 



san francisco's great disaster. ioi 

of the peninsula, where it stops. The traveler will notice 
appreciated, and their details never lose dramatic interest. 
that the streets north of Market run down to it in a straight 
north and south direction, thus making a number of irregu- 
lar triangular-shaped blocks. To the south of Market 
Street the blocks are laid off perfectly square. Away out 
at the end of Market Street one sees the Twin Peaks, the 
land rising up as it goes westward, so that looking at San 
Francisco from the east the houses seem to be piled one on 
another. Often the streets have a 50 per cent, rise, and 
along some sidewalks wooden cleats are nailed to assist 
one in climbing. 

Before starting to walk out on Market, "up on" Market 
Street, the San Franciscan says, the traveler may take his 
directions. Straight across the rocky hills on the western 
side of the peninsula is the Pacific Ocean. On both sides 
of the Ferry Buiding, along the water front, extending 
some little distance, is the wholesale section of the city. On 
the right are many banks. At the northern point of the pen- 
insula, to the northwest of one going in by way of the fer- 
ries, is the Presidio Reservation, where are soldiers. 

Walking "up" Market Street four or five blocks one 
came to Sansome Street. To the right four or five blocks 
was Chinatown, where practically all the Chinese of the 
city were huddled, twice as many in winter as in summer, 
because the harvest season draws them out to the farms. 

MANY BIG BUILDINGS. 

Walking up a block or so more on Market Street, one 
came to Montgomery Street, near one of the centres of de- 
struction. To the right was the big Postal Telegraph Build- 



IC2 san francisco's great disaster. 

ing, which was destroyed. To the left of Market Street 
was the Grand Hotel. In this neighborhood were many 
restaurants and theatres. 

The next street is Kearney Street, which comes in from 
the right. At that corner stood The Chronicle Building. 
It was the first of the higher buildings in San Francisco. 
Coming into Market Street from the left at about the same 
place as Kearney is Third Street. At the southwestern 
corner was the building of The Examiner. This is News- 
paper Corner. Across Third Street, on the northwest cor- 
ner, was the huge Spreckels Building, in which was The 
Call ; it was destroyed. Just west of the Spreckels Building 
were the Grand Opera House and the Winchester House. 

This section is the shopping district of the city. Many 
of the stores are, or were, on Market Street, but most of 
them were in the streets just to the right of it — Kearney, 
Sutter, Post, Geary, Grant, and Stockton Streets. 

MAGNIFICENT CITY HALL. 

Looking up Market Street some three miles one sees 
Yerba Buena Park, just to the right of the street. There 
was the magnificent City Hall, the most conspicuous build- 
ing in the city, surmounted with a dome 332 feet high. 
It required twenty-five years to build, and its cost varied, 
according to different reports, from $6,000,000 to $9,000,- 
000. 

Running parellel with Market Street one block to the 
south of it is Mission Street, and on the corner of Mission 
and Seventh Streets was the Post Office. About opposite 
Seventh Street, on the right side of Market Street, was 
the Flood Building, a huge $1,500,000 office structure. 



SAN FRANCISCO'S GREAT DISASTER. IO3 

In this neighborhood also was the Valencia Hotel. To 
the north of Market Street, between the City Hall and the 
Presidio Reservation, near the Golden Gate, is the hilly 
and fashionable residence section of the city. It is called 
"Nob Hill," and there the millionaires who put through 
the overland railways built their palatial homes, and there 
other rich men have also bought homes. 

BURNED AREA TWENTY-SIX MILES AROUND. 

When some order had been restored it was possible to 
get about and measure the extent of disaster. An auto- 
mobile loaded with newspaper men was sent out to deter- 
mine with accuracy the boundaries of the conflagration. 
In skirting the burned area on its four sides, this auto- 
mobile traveled twenty-six miles as shown by the register 
on the machine. This does not show the exact circumfer- 
ence of the burned section, but it shows the length of the 
line along which the flames traveled. The area skirted 
by the automobile included the financial, commercial and 
most of the densely populated portion of the residence dis- 
trict, with all the splendid institutions and great mansions 
that had grown up with the progress of the city. 

The start of the tour was made from the Pacific Mail 
dock at the corner of First and Brannan streets. Travel- 
ing along the north line of Brannan the fire ate its way to 
Second, where it crossed the street and consumed the 
warehouse of the great wine firm of Lachman and Jacobi, 
at the southeast corner of Brannan and Second. Thence 
it moved along the west side of Second to Townsend and 
along the north line of Townsend to Seventh. On this 
particular front it licked up the great building of the 
Southern Pacific at the corner of Fourth and Townsend 
streets. 



io4 san francisco's great disaster. 

Directly in front of the ruins of this building there 
were already evidences of the undaunted spirit that ani- 
mated the citizens of San Francisco, for a hundred men 
were at work clearing the debris from Fourth street so that 
the Southern Pacific might run spur tracks northerly along 
the line of Fourth to Market street for the purpose of car- 
rying away the immense masses of brick and ruined ma- 
terial littering the streets and sites of the business houses 
that so lately crowded that area. And in this connection 
it is noted that the freight and passenger depots along the 
southerly side of Townsend street as far east as Third, 
though built in the most fragile manner and of the most 
perishable materials were not so much as scorched. 

Standing at the corner of Fourth and Townsend 
streets one's eye caught the ruins of the great brick 
Catholic Church of St. Rose, one block distant on Bran- 
nan, near Fourth, which some eight years ago suffered 
a visitation of fire and had only lately risen on its ruin in 
what seemed to be imperishable brick and stone. 

STREETS SUNK INTO GREAT GAPS. 

It was noted that the block bounded by Seventeenth 
and Eighteenth, and Howard and Shotwell, though spared 
by the flames, had been terribly shaken by the quake. In 
some instances the houses were a mass of ruins, it being 
thought that of all the buildings in that square the only 
two that might be saved from the wreck were those ot 
Lawyer W. C. Graves at 2189 Howard. Even the frame 
Catholic Church of St. Charles at Shotwell and Eighteenth 
appeared to be unsafe. The streets in this vicinity were 
sunk from six to eight feet in places and the earth opened 
in great gaps while the rails of the car system were twisted 
and broken. 



san Francisco's great disaster. 107 

The fire extended along the southerly line of Golden 
Gate avenue to Van Ness, and along the easterly line of 
Van Ness to Sutter, where it crossed to the west side and 
burned the blocks from the north line of Sutter and the 
east line of Franklin through to Clay. In this district 
were included some of the most splendid mansions of the 
city, chief among which was the home of Claus Spreckels, 
at the southwest corner of Clay and Van Ness avenues. 
This splendid piece of architecture, done in brown stone 
in the chateau style and adorned with all that wealth and 
taste could gather, was blackened and divested of all its 
beauty. 

ALL OF THE OLD LANDMARKS GONE. 

Old landmarks, made famous by association with the 
early history of California as well as the new monuments 
to the commercial prosperity of California's metropolis, 
have been wiped out of existence. One of the first land- 
marks to fall a prey to> the flames was the Palace Hotel, 
known the world over to travelers. It was built in the '7o's 
by James Ralston at a cost of $6,000,000 and was owned 
by the Sharon estate. 

At Post street and Grant avenue stood the Bohemian 
Club, one of the widest-known social organizations in the 
world. Its membership includes many men famous in art, 
literature and commerce. Its rooms were decorated with 
the work of members, many of whose names are known 
wherever paintings are discussed and many of them price- 
less in their associations. Most of these were saved. There 
were on special exhibition in the "Jmks" room of the Bo- 
hemian Club a dozen paintings by old masters, including 
a Rembrandt, a Diaz, a Murillo, and others, probably 
worth $100,000. These were lost. 



108 san francisco's great disaster. 

The district on California street, from Powell to Jones 
street, known as Nob Hill, which was swept by fire, con- 
tained the most palatial homes of San Francisco. The 
summit of the hill is about 500 feet above the sea level and 
gives a magnificent view of San Francisco Bay and the 
country for many miles around. 

FAMOUS STANFORD HOME. 

At the southwest corner of California and Powell 
streets, just on the brink of the hill, was the Stanford resi- 
dence. At the death of Mrs. Stanford, in Honolulu, the 
mansion became the property of Leland Stanford, Jr., 
University. It contained many art treasures of great 
value. 

On the southeast corner of the same block stood the 
home of the late Mark Hopkins, who amassed many mi 1 * 
lions along with Stanford, C. P. Huntington, and Charles 
Crocker in the construction of the Central Pacific Rail- 
road. The Hopkins home was presented to the Univer- 
sity of California by his heirs, and it was known as the 
Hopkins Art Institute. 

Across California street from the Stanford and Hop- 
kins home stood the Fairmount Hotel, which had been 
under construction for more than two years. It was a 
handsome, white stone structure, seven stories high, and 
occupies an entire block. 

One block west of the Fairmount is the Flood home, 
a huge, brownstone mansion, said to have cost more than 
$1,000,000. The Huntington home occupies the block 
on California street just west of the Flood home. The 
Crocker residence, with its huge lawns and magnificent 
stables, is on the west of the Huntington home. Many 
other beautiful and costly homes are situated on the hill. 



SAN FRAN CIS CO^S GREAT DISASTER. IO9 

REDUCED TO RUINS. 

The Olympic Club, Post and Mason streets, the oldest 
regularly organized athletic association in the United 
States, and famous for its appointments and for the num- 
ber of athletes it has developed, was burned to a skeleton. 
The building was worth $300,000, and its furnishings were 
of the finest quality. 

The great new Flood Building, built by James Flood 
at a cost of $4,000,000, and occupied about a year ago; 
the new Merchants' Exchange Building, in California 
street, erected at a cost of $2,500,000; the Crocker Build- 
ing, at Montgomery and Market streets, worth $1,000,000; 
the Mills Building, at Bush and Montgomery streets, cost- 
ing $1,000,000; the new Shreve Building, at Post street and 
Grant avenue, costing $2,000,000 and occupied on April 
1, by the largest jewelry store on the coast, are some of 
the new structures destroyed by the flames. The Shreve 
Jewelry Company carried a stock worth $2,000,000. 

On Market street, the Phelan Building, one of the 
earliest attempts at a pretentious work of architecture in 
the business section and covering the most valuable piece 
of real estate in San Francisco, is gone. 

FAMOUS OLD HOTELS. 

The Occidental Hotel, on Montgomery street, for 
years the headquarters for army officers; the old Lick 
House, built by the philanthropist, James Lick; the old 
Russ House, also on Montgomery street; the Nevada 
National Bank Block, the Bayward Building, at California 
and Montgomery streets, a modern structure of ten stor- 
ies; the severe Gothic style California National Bank, the 



IIO SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

First National Bank, the Canadian Bank of Commerce, the 
London and San Francisco Bank, on California street; the 
London, Paris and American Bank, and the Bank of Brit- 
ish North America, on Sansome street; the large German- 
American Savings Bank, also on California street, these 
are a few of the notable buildings destroyed in that region. 
The California Hotel and Theatre, on Bush street, 
near Montgomery; the Grand Opera House, on Mission 
street, where the Conreid Grand Opera Company had just 
opened for a series of two weeks' opera; the Orpheum, the 
Columbia, the Alcazar, the Majestic, the Central, and Fish- 
er's, were some of the playhouses destroyed. 

APARTMENT HOUSES. 

Among the splendid apartment houses destroyed are : 
On Geary street — The St. Augustine, the Alexan- 
dria, the Victoria. 

On Sutter — The Pleasanton, the Aberdeen, the Wal- 

deck, the Granada. 

On Pine street — The Colonial, the Lomivista, the 
Buenavista. 

On Pine street — The Dufferin, the Hamilton, the El- 
lis, the Royal, the Hart, the Ascot, and St. Catharine. 

On Farrell street — The Eugene, the Knox, the St. 
George, the Ramon, and the Gotham. 

On Taylor street— The Abbey. 

On Eddy street — The Abbottsford. 

On Turk street— The Netherlands. 

On Polk street — The Savoy. 

On Bush street — The Plymouth. 

San Francisco was famous for the excellency of its 
restaurants. Among them were the "Pup" and March- 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. Ill 

and's on Stockton street; the Poodle Dog, Zinkands, and 
the Fiesta. They are no more. 

FINE PAPERS BURNED OUT. 

At the junction of Kearny, Market, and Geary streets 
stood the three great newspaper buildings of San Francis- 
co — the Call (Spreckles'), the Examiner, and the Chron- 
icle. All were destroyed. Two blocks north on Kearney 
street were the Bulletin and the Post buildings. They also 
are gone. 

Among the large department stores destroyed are the 
Emporium and Bales & Frager's, on Market street; on 
Kearney street, the White House, O'Connor & Moffatt's, 
Newman and Levinson, Roos Bros./ Raphael's, the Hub, 
and many lesser establishments; on Geary street were the 
Davis, the City of Paris, Samuels'; on Post street, Vel 
Strausson; on Sansome street, Wallace's, Nathan, Doher- 
man & Co., and Bullock & Jones. 

PALACE AND GRAND HOTELS. 

Here follows more detailed descriptions of a number 
of the most important buildings which were destroyed. 

The Palace Hotel, at Market and New Montgomery 
streets, covered two and one-half acres of land. It was 
seven stories high. The building cost $7,000,000, and was 
projected by the late W. C. Ralston. The Palace was the 
most famous hotel in the city. It was the rendezvous of 
many notable men about town, particularly the gourmands 
of San Francisco. 

The building was a huge pile of stone and brick, in the 
centre of which was a court, 84 by 144 feet. It had a bit- 



ii2 san francisco's great disaster. 

umen drive for carriages 50 feet in diameter. The floor 
of the promenade was paved with marble. The west end 
of the court was encircled by a series of Doric pillars of 
classic design. The pillars were surmounted by a coping 
on which were tropical plants and flowers. Tables and 
settees were usually scattered about the court, where men 
might have an afternoon chat and smoke. 

The court was covered by a glass roof, and a goodl) 
number of the 850 rooms looked out into this opening 
which furnished them with a subdued light. The Hotel 
Palace was connected by a bridge across New Montgom- 
ery street with the Grand Hotel, which was under the 
same management, and which was also destroyed. 

The Palace Hotel was provided with reading and 
smoking rooms, social women's and men's parlors, tele- 
graph offices, billiard rooms, five elevators, a restaurant, 
and a grill room, which was considered one of the most 
elegant dining apartments for men in the world. 

The outer and inner partitions were of brick from top 
to bottom. Four artesian wells furnished the hotel with 
water. From the top of the hotel a fine bird's-eye view of 
the city could be obtained. The extent of the corridors 
amounted to some two and a half miles. The style of 
the building was peculiarly San Franciscan, bay windows 
abounding. 

THE CLIFF HOUSE. 

This stood on Point Lobos, at the south head of the 
Golden Gate, on the extreme western coast of the peninsula 
upon which San Francisco was built. It slid into the sea. 
It was a favorite resort in the Summer, attracting thou- 
sands from the thickly settled eastern section of San Fran- 



san francisco's great disaster. 113 

cisco. One could sit on the veranda and look out over the 
ocean and watch sea lions playing around the rocks a few 
hundred yards distant. Out to the south he could see a 
long line of sea beach upon which the breakers rolled. 
On a clear day Farallone Islands, twenty-six miles dis- 
tant, can be seen from the spot where stood the Cliff 
House. 

The huge structure that slid into the sea was designed 
after a French chateau of the seventeenth century. Run- 
ning around it was an inclosed balcony. There were parlors, 
dining rooms, and halls where photographs of local objects 
of interest and curios were sold. 

The Cliff House has suffered several disasters. It 
was first built in 1863. It was partly wrecked in July, 
1886, when the schooner Parallel drifted in shore with 
80,000 pounds of dynamite on board, which exploded. 
Having been rebuilt, it was burned to the ground on the 
Christmas night of 1894. Cliff House was seven miles 
from the Palace Hotel, and several car lines led to it. Its 
keepers boasted that Presidents Grant, Hayes, and Harri- 
son had stood on its balconies. 

OTHER PROMINENT BUILDINGS. 

St Francis Hotel. By the burning of the St. Francis 
Hotel, which was consumed, $4,000,000 went up in smoke. 
This magnificent house, at the time of its destruction, was 
being enlarged at enormous expxense, and filled with 
guests.' Among those stopping at the hotel when the 
building was destroyed were James Riley and wife, of the 
Hotel Walcott, New York City; several members of the 
Metropolitan Opera Company, of New York, and many 
other Eastern visitors. It was reported that no one was 
injured at the St. Francis. 



ii4 san francisco's great disaster. 



The Call Building. — This was the tallest building 
on the Pacific Coast, and was occupied by The San Fran- 
cisco Call, having in it, besides 272 offices. It was erected 
in 1896-7, at the southwest corner of Market and Third 
streets. From the basement to the top of the dome was 
300 feet. There were sixteen floors. It was constructed 
entirely of marble, sandstone and steel, and was considered 
fireproof. It was of no little architectural beauty. It 
was one of the first buildings seen when one entered San 
Francisco. 

The Crocker Building. — This stood on the gore 
made by Post, Montgomery, and Market street. It was 
erected in 1892- 1893, at a cost °f $1,000,000. It was 
eleven stories high, made of Rocklin granite and light 
pressed brick, with terra-cotta ornamentations. The 
ground floor was occupied by the Crocker- Woolworth 
National Bank and Shreve & Co., jewelers. The upper 
floors were divided into some 250 offices. The building 
was 130 feet, and was one which the San Franciscan al- 
ways pointed out to the visitor. 

The Fairmount Hotel. — It was just about ready 
for occupancy. It was seven stories high and of white 
stone. It required two years to construct it, and 
it was one of the very finest structures in the city, situated 
right across the street from the Mark Hopkins Art In- 
stitute, on California street, between Mason and Powell 
streets. Its cost was $2,000,000. Mrs. Herman Oelrichs 
had traded it for two buildings downtown, both of which 
were destroyed. , 

Mark Hopkins Institute. — This was formerly the 
magnificent private residence of Mark Hopkins, one of 
California's pioneer citizens, at the southeast corner of 
California and Mason streets. It was given to the city in 



san francisco's great disaster. 117 

1893 by E. F. Searles, of Methuen, Mass. It had been 
used for illustration and instruction in the fine arts. It 
contained man)'' fine specimens of painting and sculpture. 
A spacious gallery had recently been added to the institute. 
The interior of the house was finished with rare woods 
and beautiful frescoes. 

The Lick House. — This was one of the quiet, family 
hotels of San Francisco, in Montgomery street, between 
Sutter and Post streets. The building was completed in 
1 86 1 ; it was one of the very old hotels. When it was first 
completed its dining hall was considered one of the finest 
in the world. The site of the Lick House was once a 
sand dune, and the ground sold for $300. 

The Grand Opera House. — This stood on the north 
side of Mission street, between Third and Fourth streets, 
near Market street, the main thoroughfare. Its stage, 
which was 100 x 120 feet, was the largest on the other 
side of the Rockies. It seated nearly 2,000 people, and cost 
$500,000 when it was opened in 1876 as Wade's Opera 
House. 

Merchants' Exchange. — This three-story building 
was on the south side of California treet, between Mont- 
gomery and Sansome streets. It was surmounted by a clock 
tower 120 feet high. Incorporated in 1868 by the State, 
the Merchants' Exchange had for its object the acquire- 
ment, preservation, and dissemination of information con- 
cerning commercial and maritime exchange. The United 
States Hydrographic office was in the building. 

The Occidental Hotel. — This hotel was a sort of 
headquarters for army and navy officers in San Francisco 
and visitors from the Pacific islands. It occupied the en- 
tire block on the east side of Montgomery street, between 
Sutter and Bush streets, and was a rather old-style four- 



1 1 8 san francisco's great disaster. 

story building, with cement facings, though its table was 
noted in the city. 

The Russ House. — This was a merchants and far- 
mers' hotel. It was one of the old-style, low, rambling 
buildings, being only three stories high, but covering the 
entire block on the west side of Montgomery street, be- 
tween Bush and Pine streets. It was erected in 1862 by 
Christian Russ, who bought the site in 1847. 

Mills Building. — This was one of the finest build- 
ings in the city, being ten stories high and made of Cali- 
fornia marble, light-pressed brick and terra-cotta. It cost 
$1,500,000. and was put up in 1891-2 by D. O. Mills at the 
northeast corner of Montgomery and Bush streets. The 
three entrances from Bush, Pine and Montgomery streets 
led into a great open court in the centre. The entrance from 
Montgomery street was through a magnificent marble 
arch that extended to the top of the second story. The 
halls were tiled and wainscoted with marble. A complete 
law library was supplied for the use of the tenants. The 
United States Weather Bureau had its headquarters on 
the top floor, with the signal station on the roof. This was 
another building which the San Franciscan was always 
proud to point out to the visitor. Built of iron, stone, 
bricks and marble throughout, it was thought to be proof 
against both earthquakes and fires. 

City Hall. — This occupied a large three-cornered 
tract of land bounded by Larkin and McAlister streets 
and City Hall avenue. It required twenty-five years to 
erect this building, and San Franciscans learned to desig- 
nate a long period of time by saying, "As long as it wi 1 l 
take to build the City Hall." It cost between $7,000,000 
and $9,000,000. Connected with the City Hall was the 
Hall of Records, which was surmounted by a dome 134. 



san Francisco's great disaster. 119 

feet high. The building was surrounded by Corinthian pil- 
lars forty-eight feet high. 

The land upon which the City Hall stood was form- 
erly the Yerba Buena Cemetery, and there once lay the 
bodies of the early pioneers of the city. The bodies were 
removed to Laurel Hill and other cemeteries in the early 
sixties. In the northwest wing of the building was the 
City Prison. The Receiving Hospital occupied a like posi- 
tion in the southwest wing. 

St. Ignatius Church. — This was the largest church 
in the city. It stood in the fashionable district, on Hayes 
street, between Van Ness avenue and Franklin street. It 
cost $2,000,000, and was the finest Jesuitical church in 
the world. Its spires, 275 feet high, were the tallest in Cali- 
fornia. Its organ was the second largest in America, and 
was the only one on the coast operated by electricity. It 
weighed 100,000 pounds. Its central columns were sur- 
mounted by life-sized angels with trumpets, and the outer 
ones supporting huge urns holding burning torches. The 
organ was presented to the church by Mrs. Welch. The 
main hall of the church was 200 feet long. Hanging over 
the altar was a large oil painting representing the recep- 
tion in heaven of St. Ignatius Loyola. 

The Chronicle Building. — This was one of the first 
high buildings erected in San Francisco. It was nine 
stories high, surmounted by a bronze clock tower 210 feet 
high. The building was of pressed brick and a dark brown 
sandstone that is found in Ventura County. The building 
was fitted with all modern improvements. It was one of 
the handsome buildings that made Newspaper Corner a 
centre of no little architectural beauty. The Chronicle 
occupied the basement, the first floor, and the top floor 
all the other floors being rented as offices. 



120 san francisco's great disaster. 



The Examiner Building. — Before this collapsed it 
was eight stories high, standing on the southeast corner of 
Market and Third streets, the corner near which were all 
the big newspaper offices. The offices of The Examiner, 
Mr. Hearst's San Francisco paper, occupied the rotunda 
of the building, the rest being rented for offices. The 
building was of the Spanish Renaissance style. The sever- 
ity of its exterior was broken by the ornamented windows 
of the second story and the loggias with their decorated 
columns along the top stories. 

The Hall of Justice. — This was one of the newest, if 
not the newest, public buildings in the city. It was situated 
on the east side of Kearny street, between Washington 
and Merchant streets, opposite Portsmouth Square. The 
cornerstone was laid in 1896. . It contained Police Head- 
quarters, the police courts, and the Criminal Departments 
of the Superior Court. It stood on notorious ground. It 
was in that neighborhood that the most famous gambling 
dens were located, and there, later on, the Jenny Lind 
Theatre was burned down and rebulit. 

Parrott Building. — This big seven-storied building- 
occupied the site of the old Jesuit Church on the south side 
of Market street, between Fourth and Fifth streets. The 
two lower floors were occupied by the Emporium,, one of 
the biggest department stores in the world. This store 
used nine acres of floor space, maintained sixty depart- 
ments, and employed 2,000 persons. Its shelves were of 
mahogany with marble bases. A dome 100 feet high sur- 
mounted the building. 

Phelan Building. — Situated at the gore of Market 
and O'Farrel streets and Grant avenue, this large, five- 
story building was conspicuous in the sight of one walking 
up the main thoroughfare of Market street. It was the 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 121 

headquarters for the California Department of the United 
States Army. 

Hibernia Bank. — This bank stood at the junction 
of Market, Jones, and McAlister streets, and was one of 
the handsomest buildings in San Francisco. It was con- 
structed of white granite with Corinthian columns. A 
massive dome surmounted the roof, and the entrance at 
the corner was ornamented by graceful columns of granite. 

California Hotel. — This hotel was situated on the 
north side of Bush street, above Kearny. It was eight 
stories high, made of carved stone and pressed brick. It 
was opened in 1890 and was one of the first-class hotels 
of the city. 

Grace Church. — This was one of the older churches 
of the city, having been built in 1866, the corner-stone 
being laid by Bishop W. I. Kipp. It stood at the southeast 
corner of California and Stockton streets, on the eastern 
slope of the hill of California street, and was a conspicuous 
object from downtown. It cost $125,000. 

Orpheum Theatre. — This theatre presented the 
best class of varieties in the West. It had the largest seat- 
ing capacity of any playhouse in San Francisco, seating 2,- 
500 people. It stood on the south side of O'Farrel street, 
between Powell and Stockton streets. 

The Columbia Theatre. — This was a pretty little 
playhouse, situated on the west side of Powell street, above 
Market street, opposite the Baldwin Hotel. It seated 
1,400 people, and was first opened as Stockwell's Theatre. 

Mechanics' Pavilion. — The pavilion stood at Larkin 
and Grove streets, and there every year the Mechanics' 
Institute gave an industrial exhibition. 



122 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

LOSS OF THE SUTRO LIBRARY. 

An irreparable loss of the San Francisco, earthquake 
was the destruction of the great Sutro library of old books 
This was stored in two divisions, one in the Upham Build- 
ing, at Pine and Battery streets, and one in a building at 
Montgomery and Washington. 

Adolph Sutro made a fortune in the Comstock and 
the other Nevada silver properties in the early days. Later 
he built a five cent road to the Ocean Beach, in opposition 
to the regular street car companies, which were charging 
a ten cent fare, built a park overlooking the Cliff House 
and Seal Rocks, which he gave to the people of San Fran- 
cisco, and handed over to them also the Sutro baths, 
having the largest swimming tank under roof in the world. 
On the strength of these gifts and his genuine personal 
popularity he was elected Mayor of San Francisco. 

Early in his career Sutro developed a hobby for old 
books and conceived the idea of collecting a great library 
of them. For ten years he and his agents bought all over 
the world. Although he was imposed upon by a great 
many forgeries and acquired much that was valueless, he 
made some fortunate purchases, and his wholesale method 
of buying enabled him to get a great deal of gold along 
with the dross. 

For example, in 1886 or thereabouts, Bavaria con- 
fiscated the property of the Catholic monasteries in the 
kingdom. Their books were lumped into one great lot, 
and Sutro bought them all, including thousands of manu- 
scripts dating back before the age of printing, which had 
never come under the notice of scholars. In the same way, 
when the Mexican Government discovered a forgotten 
collection of books, memorials, diaries and manuscripts 



san francisco's great disaster. 123 

bearing upon the early history of California and Lower 
California, especially the mission period in the boundaries 
of the present United States, he bought them all. This 
collection, from which it was prophesied the true history 
of the old Pacific Coast would some day be written, was 
never even taken from its boxes. He had a standing order 
with Quaritch for certain lines of books, and he was willing 
to pay anything for what he wanted. In the end the col- 
lection reached a total of about 225,000 volumes. 

When it had grown to that size Sutro brought a book- 
man named Moss from the British Museum, and had him 
make a beginning of classifying and cataloguing it. Moss 
began to straighten it out, but he had worked only a 
year or two when he died. In 1897 Sutro died also. 

It had been his intention to give the collection either 
to the University of California or to the city. But he left 
no late will. The only one in existence was drawn up 
before the time of his collection, and it left all his books 
and papers to his sister, Dr. Emma Sutro Merrit. There 
followed a double contest over his property, which was 
found to have depreciated greatly. A Mrs. Kluge ap- 
peared, who said that she was his wife by a contract mar- 
riage; and some of his children by his first marriage raised 
a contest of their own. The estate has remained ever since 
tangled in the courts. Dr. Merrit, who had temporary 
custodianship of the library, closed it absolutely. Since 
that time, no one has been permitted to enter it except 
a custodian and an occasional scholar who has been able 
to get through the red tape which surrounded it. 



124 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

COLLECTION NEVER CLASSIFIED. 

Since the collection has never been classified, no one 
living knows absolutely just what was there. Here, how- 
ever, are some of the known treasures. 

He had a complete collection of Shakespeare folios — 
first, second, third and fourth. Some of the early pages 
of his first folio were missing and were supplied in fac-sim- 
ile. The pages of the second folio were slightly scorched; 
because it had passed through the London fire — to perish 
in the San Francisco fire two and a half centuries later. 
There was nearly a full set of folios of Ben Jonson. 

The collection of Shakesperiana included the rent roll 
of Shottery Meadow, Stratford, which he had some diffi- 
culty in getting out of England, the newspapers and the 
authorities of the British Museum declaring that such 
documents should not go out of their country. 

An old prayer book and a hymnal, bound literally in 
boards, were interesting historically; for authenticated 
documents showed that they were the very books placed 
in the hands of Charles II. on his re-entry into London 
after the Restoration. His collection of the Book of Com- 
mon Prayer was very strong, including most of the famous 
editions from the time of Edward VI. down to the last 
century. 

A random summary of the other "show" books would 
include some specimens of Gutenberg and Caxton print- 
m g> a great deal of fine work from the Aldine and Elzivir 
presses, several firsts of Ben Franklin, and many rare and 
valuable incunabula. Of the Hebrew collection, said to be 
very valuable, less is known, but some of the scrolls dated 
back to the tenth century and the one most valuable work 
in the collection, according to Sutro, was one of these 




Copyright, Judge Co., 1906. 
FACING ALTAR— RUINS OF MEMORIAL CHURCH, LELAND 
STANFORD UNIVERSITY. 



san francisco's great disaster. 127 

Hebrew manuscripts. It was valued at $10,000, and 
Sutro had some correspondence over it with the Vatican 
authorities, who wanted to buy it and paid for a transcrip- 
tion of its text. 

There was also discovered a few years ago an incom- 
plete and uncatalogued Shakespeare first folio which he 
bought in a lump with a number of other old books. 

Outside of these books, valuable only to a biblio- 
maniac, there was a great mass of matter which made 
strong appeal to scholars, and which would have made this 
library of great value to any university. His collection of 
British pamphlets and broadsides, running from the early 
seventeenth century to the late eighteenth, was said by 
Moss to be the most complete outside of the British Mu- 
seum. There were several thousand of these, and, bound 
into book form, they occupied three great ranges of the 
warehouse. 

ANCIENT NEWSPAPER FILE. 

Very full, too, was the collection of French and Eng- 
lish newspaper files of the late eighteenth and early nine- 
teenth centuries. It may be doubted if there was any- 
thing in the country, or anywhere outside of France, to 
equal this in original sources on the French Revolution. 
The same may be said of the books bearing on European 
history in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. 

Bavarian books, mentioned before, were a great 
treasury in themselves. Whether printed or in manuscript, 
many of them were bound and backed with older manu- 
scripts, and many of them showed by the dim traces of 
writing beneath, that they were palimpsests. These books 
had never come under the eyes of scholars, and there was 
every chance of discoveries. Yet perhaps the greatest loss 



128 san francisco's great disaster. 

to scholarship, if the library is really gone, lay in the Mexi- 
can collection which would have furnished the means of 
rewriting the early and romantic history of the Pacific 
coast. 

The library, as said before, was in two sections. In 
Montgomery street Moss had gathered the books which 
he had classified and begun to catalogue, and there were 
the most valuable, such as the Shakespeare folios, the 
copies of Ben Jonson, the Shakesperiana and the Eng- 
lish pamphets. Fully 150,000 volumes were in the Bat- 
tery street section, which is certainly gone. There were 
the monkish manuscripts, the works bearing on mediaeval 
history, and all the undiscovered country for scholars. 

The final disposition of the Sutro library, had it not 
been destroyed, was uncertain. The University of Cali- 
fornia thought at one time of buying it by arrangement 
with the heirs, but lacked the funds at the time. Stanford, 
which has the money, is a scientific university, which cares 
less for that kind of thing, and the authorities felt that 
money spent in books might better be devoted to modern 
works. 

It was always understood that, in case the original 
will held, Dr. Merrit, ever at a great loss to herself, would 
respect the wishes of her brother and give the books either 
to one of the universities or to the people of San Francisco. 
In case of any other settlement it might have been taken 
abroad and sold by auction. 

STANFORD UNIVERSITY LOSSES. 

Palo Alto and Stanford university suffered by the 
earthquake. At Stanford many of the handsome buildings, 
including the splendid Memorial church, were demolished, 



san francisco's great disaster. 129 

and two people were killed. They were Junius Robert 
Hanna of Bradford, Pa., and Otto Gurts, a fireman. Six 
other students were injured. 

Stanford University, the richest institution of learn- 
ing in the United States and one of the richest in the 
country, has had a varied and interesting history since it 
was opened for students in 189 1. It has passed from ex- 
treme poverty to extreme riches, and weathered more 
than one storm among its faculty. The great building 
scheme, which allows for an almost indefinite expansion 
in the number of students was just on the verge of com- 
pletion when the trouble came, and the university, which 
had been spending the income on its endowment for build- 
ings, was preparing for a great expansion in departments 
and teachers. 

Leland Stanford, Jr., only child of Senator Leland 
Stanford and his wife Jane, died of Roman fever in Italy 
in 1887, at the age of 16. All the hopes of his parents had 
centred on him; and after his death his mother forsook 
the gay life which she had led as the wife of one of the 
richest and most prominent Californians and devoted her- 
self to charity. In his later days the boy had dropped a 
remark about what he wanted to do with his money; and 
this, it is said, determined them to found in his memory a 
great free university for the youth of California and of the 
world. Senator and Mrs. Stanford travelled abroad study- 
ing the great institutions of Europe. Senator Stanford 
spent days with President Eliot of Harvard and other edu- 
cators, learning their views on education and the best use 
of money for educational purposes, and the result was a 
university which in its ideals gives the greatest freedom to 
the individual and makes its aim preparation for usefulness 
in life. 



I30 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

Stanford was not a university man, and he recognized 
his limitations. It was his plan to go to the best of those 
who should know and take their advice on details. In 
the character of the university he had been guided largely 
by Eliot. In planning for the external features he went to 
Richardson, the architect of Trinity Church in Boston. 
Richardson laid it out on the plan of the old California 
missions, an adaptation by the architects among the padres 
of Moorish architecture to the peculiar weather conditions 
of California. His imitation was not slavish, however; he 
departed widely from the model and escaped the formless- 
ness which has marked most modern buildings in the so- 
called California mission style. The main features of the 
plan were an inner quadrangle surrounding an inner court 
and a series of outer quadrangles of two and three story 
buildings. In that inner quadrangle were twelve one story 
buildings, low and massive, but roomy and affording ex- 
cellent recitation rooms. The main feature of the plan, 
however, was the arcades, which ran everywhere about the 
buildings and which provided against the rainy season 
since they made it possible to go from any part of the main 
structure to any other without getting wet. The whole 
mass, in the plan of Richardson was capped by a low, mas- 
sive arch which formed the centre of the front facade and 
backed by the pile of a great church in Italian Renaissance 
style. Flanking the main buildings on either side were 
Encina Dormitory for men and Roble for women. 

The inner quadrangle, three isolated engineering 
buildings and the two dormitories were completed when 
the university opened for instruction in 1891. They were 
all built according to the plan. Upon Encina Hall in par- 
ticular Senator Stanford lavished great care. He insisted 
upon sinking the foundations twice as deep as tos necses- 



san Francisco's great disaster. 131 



sary, and all work was done by the day and not by con- 
tract. It was his idea to have it stand for centuries — 
"Even against earthquakes/' he said. 

When the university threw its doors open the authori- 
ties hardly expected an immediate response from students. 
As a matter of fact, in two years they had nine hundred 
men and women in attendance. At the end of those two 
years Senator Stanford died, and two things happened 
which nearly swamped the institution. The hard times 
struck the country, greatly depressing the securities upon 
which the university depended for its life, and the govern- 
ment entered suit for the restoration of the value 
of the bonds upon which the Union Pacific fortune 
rested. There is no space to dwell on the details of this 
case. Had the Government won the university would 
have gone out of existence. While the estate was tied up 
in the courts about $100,000 a year was awarded to Mrs. 
Stanford as a living allowance. That was all the university 
had to run on. She reduced her own personal expenses 
to $100 a month and handed all the rest over. The next 
two or three years brought a heroic struggle to keep the 
university alive through the clipping of salaries to the 
lowest point, the sale of every chattel not tied up in the 
courts, and even of Mrs. Stanford's personal jewels. Sev- 
eral times, only the courage of Jane Stanford and her loy- 
alty to the ideal of her husband prevented the closing of 
the university. The case ran through all the courts, with 
a final decision in favor of the university. Finally it was 
out of the courts, the hard times were over and she went 
ahead to finish the building scheme while she had her 
strength. , 

Mrs. Stanford, unlike her husband, interfered with 
the plans of the architect. The result was several features 



I32 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

which folks of an artistic bent regarded as blots. The 
arch was raised thirty feet from the original plan, and it 
stuck up out of the mess of buildings high beyond all pro- 
portion. Further, it was desecrated by a horrible frieze. 
The chapel, too, was plastered outside and inside with 
Venetian mosaics, considered out of place in such architec- 
ture. These, however, were only minor blurs. In the 
main, the noble plan of Richardson was carried out. The 
university as it stood had first the main mass of buildings, 
about two dozen in all. Apart from this stood the dormi- 
tories, a chemical laboratory, the most successful single 
building in the whole place, a museum and a set of engi- 
neering buildings. Work was under way on a great library 
to supplement the one already in use, and ground had been 
broken for a gymnasium and athletic field. 

Several years ago Dr. David Starr Jordan, president 
of the university since its foundation, got it considerably 
into the papers through the so-called Ross controversy. 
This grew primarily out of a schism in the faculty. Prof. 
Edwin Ross, head of the department of sociology, was dis- 
charged ostensibly because he critised certain financial in- 
terests in which Mrs. Stanford was interested. The issue 
was considerably clouded, and to this day it is not certain 
whether Mrs. Stanford wanted him sent away or whether 
Jordan acted upon his own initiative. At the same time 
several professors in sympathy with Ross resigned. Later 
there was a controversy of the same sort in which Prof. 
Pease, one of the strongest men at the university, lost his 
place, and this was followed by the affair of Prof. Julius 
Goebel, head of the German department. 

Mrs. Stanford died in Honolulu in 1905. Several 
years before her death she had turned over the whole Stan- 
ford fortune to the trustees of the university. The endow- 



san Francisco's great disaster. 133 

ment and property were estimated in 1905 at $33,000,000, 
and was then growing fast in value. With the completion of 
the building scheme, set for this year, the university would 
have had about $800,000 a year to spend in maintenance. 
The plans for the future included, first, the purchase of one 
of the greatest American libraries, and second, the addition 
of many departments and professors. 

However great the loss by the earthquake, it is en- 
tirely probable that the trustees of Stanford will determine 
to rebuild at once, although perhaps not on a scale so 
elaborate. 

Stanford has about 1,600 students, of which number 
a little less than 500 are women. The attendance of wo- 
men for the present is limited to 500. Instruction in all 
departments is absolutely free, and at least one-third of 
the students come from east of the Rockies. The softness 
of the climate, the beauty of the surroundings and the out 
of doors character of the place have always made student 
life at Stanford University especially delightful. 




MEMORIAL CHURCH AT LELAND STANFORD UNI 
VERSITY. 



FIGHTING FLAMES WITHOUT WATER. 

There came a moment of sickening despair to the 
members of the San Francisco Fire Department within 
five minutes of the great earthquake shock when it was 
discovered that there was no water. The shock had twisted 
and torn the great buried mains. Scattered throughout 
the city was ample apparatus to combat any conflagration 
that, under ordinary circumstances, might be expected to 
threaten the city. Manning the equipment there were more 
than a thousand men, a force skilled in the work of fire- 
fighting, commanded by men of long experience and proved 
ability. In a hundred critical moments they had stood, a 
gallant band, battling against the destroyer while a city 
looked on, confident that they would prove victor, proud of 
every man of them. And these same men, despite the fact 
that no ordinary crisis faced them, rallied from the terror 
that followed the earthquake, and prepared swiftly to face 
the task before them. Flames were already at work, the 
apparatus was on the scene, and then came the revelation 
that filled not only the firemen, but all of San Francisco, 
with despair. The panic that came from the earthquake 
did not exceed that which came in the hearts of this brave 
band. If ever a man-of-war faced the enemy's ship, and 
ran in the guns to join in the battle, only to find that neither 
shot nor powder was on board, those who manned her 
knew something of the despair that filled the hearts of San 
Francisco's fire-fighters. They were called upon to fight 
fire without water. Not a single fire, growing from spark 
to tiny flame and gradually into a great conflagration, but 
a score of fires, springing to tremendous extent in an in- 

137 



i3« 



SAN FRANCISCO'S GREAT DISASTER. 



stant, feeding on the shattered structures, which stood, 
tottering everywhere, as kindling, awaiting the first flash 
of fire to burst into mountains of flame. There remained 
only to strive to deprive the flames of fuel. On the prairie 
this can be accomplished by burning over a wide territory 
in the path of the fire. Hundreds have saved their lives 
by this means. In the forests something of the same thing 
can be accomplished by felling standing timber and burning 
out the underbrush. These primitive plans are in use all 
over the country every year to lessen the havoc of fires that 
devastate millions of acres of woodland and sweep over 
the plains of the West. Their application in cities is only 
different in degree. The effort must be to remove fuel 
from a tract too wide for the flames to leap it and count 
on permanently stopping the advance by fighting the blaze 
that finds a foothold in the cleared tract. Here, as in 
many instances in cities, giant powder and dynamite were 
used. 

The firemen became sappers and miners. They were 
aided by troops from the government reservation, men of 
the artillery familiar with high explosives. The tireless 
work they did must remain among the notable occurrences 
of the series of tragedies which visited San Francisco. 
The work of dynamiting began when the fire was in the 
heart of the business district. Costly buildings were lev- 
elled in great numbers. In each instance, however, the on- 
rush of the flames gave too little time. The high wind 
swept the blaze upward, a hundred feet and more and gave 
it a forward sweep of more than a thousand feet. To offer 
successful resistance would have required the clearing of a 
path fifteen hundred feet long, along the entire front of the 
fire.^ This was impossible and the heroic work of the dyn- 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 1 39 

amiters went for nothing-. Twenty such efforts in as many 
separate sections were made during the first three days of 
the fire. Some success was achieved after the main fire 
had been separated into a score of smaller lines which 
spread like rays from a sun, into the city. Some of these 
were temporarily checked but changes in the direction of 
the wind played pranks with the flames and often a section, 
apparently saved from the approach in one direction, was 
reduced to ashes by flames, unguarded against, coming 
from a new and unexpected quarter. For three days, 
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, this went on. Con- 
tinued failure seemed to confirm the idea that the entire 
city would be destroyed. 

SUCCESS ACHIEVED AT LAST. 

It was not until the line of Van Ness avenue was 
reached on Friday night that success was achieved. Here 
everything favored the fire-fighters. They got there twen- 
ty-four hours in advance of the flames. The avenue is 
wide. It is lined with splendid homes, most of which have 
around them considerable open spaces devoted to lawns. 
Strategically the position could not have been improved 
upon and the artillerymen went relentlessly to work. All 
day the thunders of explosions resounded through, the city, 
suggesting fresh disturbances underground to the excited, 
nerve-racked populace. Palaces shared the general de- 
struction of whatever might provide fuel to the fire. Not 
only were great charges of dynamite exploded but shot 
from big guns from the fort were rained against walls and 
foundations. Block by block the dynamiters left havoc 
behind them until at midnight they had cleared a tract, 
five hundred feet wide and nearly a mile long. 



140 

THE LAST STAND. 

Here the last stand was made on the West. Every 
available man was summoned. A few of the broken mains 
had been repaired in the meantime and the firemen were 
equipped to fight with hope of success. Like a mighty 
tidal wave, on and on came the sea of flame. It looked 
to the men in readiness to give battle that the odds were 
too great despite the cleared tract, and the water at their 
command. In the early hours of the morning sparks be- 
gan falling into the cleared zone and soon after the fire 
itself reached the east side of Van Ness avenue. The criti- 
cal hour had come. The army of soldiers and firemen 
forgot the fatigue of three days of toil with scarce an in- 
terval for sleep or rest and began a battle royal. A hun- 
dred times flames spang up in the clearing and scores of 
small blazes got started, even beyond them. But the 
tremendous energy and courage of the fighters never flag- 
ged as they sped from one to another of these outbreak- 
ings. One after another was crushed out under the 
avalanches of water. And so, hour after hour, ceaselessly 
the struggle went on. Now it seemed that the fire had 
been vanquished. Then a change in the direction of the 
wind and the struggle was on again, as desperately as 
ever, in some new locality. It was human will and en- 
durance against a tireless destroyer. Ten hours of the 
struggle and man had won. The news went abroad over 
the city that the western spread of the flames had been 
permanently stopped at Van Ness avenue. Little by little 
the force of the wave of flame had become exhausted for 
lack of fuel; little by little the danger zone retreated in 
to the district already burned; moment by moment it be- 
came more certain that victory was sure. Something of 
San Francisco would be saved. 



san Francisco's great disaster. 14* 

credit for work accomplished. 

To three men in particular belong the credit for the 
work accomplished by dynamite. 

These men were Rear Admirals Bowman and McCal- 
la's dynamite squad from Mare Island. It was their achieve- 
ment that finally routed the flames on the line of Van Ness 
avenue and checked their further advance. 

When the burning city seemed doomed to complete 
destruction and the flames lighted the sky further and fur- 
ther to the west, Admiral McCalla sent a trio of his most 
trusted men from Mare Island with orders to check the 
conflagration at any cost of life or property. With them 
they brought a ton and a half of gun cotton. The terrific 
power of the explosive was equal to the stubborn deter- 
mination of the fire. 

Captain MacBride was in charge of the squad. Chief 
Gunner Adamson placed the charges and the third gunner 
set them off. The thunderous detonations to which the 
city listened all that dreadful Friday night meant the sal- 
vation of many lives and of that fourth of the city that re- 
mains intact. 

MILLION IN PROPERTY BLOWN TO DUST. 

One million dollars' worth of property, noble resi- 
dences and worthless shacks alike was blown to drifting 
dust, but that destruction broke the fire and sent the 
flames over their own charred path. 

The whole east side of Van Ness avenue, from Gol- 
den Gate to Greenwich, was dynamited a block deep, 
though most of the structures stood as yet untouched by 
spark or cinder. Not one charge failed. Not one building 
stood upon its foundations. 

Van Ness avenue was laid flat as the earth on the 



142 san Francisco's great disaster. 

east side. Every pound of guncotton did its work, and 
though the ruins burned they burned feebly. From Gol- 
den Gate avenue north the fire crossed the wide street in 
only one place. That was at the Glaus Spreckels mansion, 
near California street. There the flames were writhing up 
the walls before the dynamite squad could reach it. Yet 
they made their way to the foundations, carrying their ex- 
plosives, despite the furnace-like heat. The charge had to 
be placed so swiftly and the fuse lit in such a hurry that 
the explosion was not quite successful from the trained 
view-point of the gunners. But though the walls still stood, 
it was only an empty victory for the fire, as bare brick and 
smoking ruins are poor food for flames. 

Captain MacBride's dynamite squad realized that a 
stand was hopeless except in Van Ness avenue. They 
could have forced their explosives further in the burning 
section, but not a pound of guncotton could be wasted. 
The ruined block that met the wide thoroughfare formed 
a trench through the clustered structures that the confla- 
gration, wild as it was, could not leap. Engines pumping 
brine through Fort Madison from the bay completed the 
little work that the guncotton had left to do<, but for three 
days haggard-eyed firemen guarded the flickering ruins. 

That desolate waste, straight through the heart of 
the city, is a mute witness to the most heroic and effective 
work of the whole calamity. Three men did this, and when 
their task was over and what stood of the city rested 
quietly for the first time, they departed as modestly as they 
had come. They were ordered to save the remnant of 
San Francisco. They obeyed orders, and Captain Mac- 
Bride and his two gunners made history on that dreadful 
night. 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. I4j 

DYNAMITES ONE VICTORY. 

This is probably the one great victory over fire ever 
won by dynamite. It has been used in many great crises. 
Chicago sought to check the conflagration that swept the 
city by the use of explosives in the path of the fire: Boston 
tried it, and Baltimore, more than either, shattered scores 
of buildings, using, as in San Francisco, both dynamite 
and giant powder. The fire fighters in all of these cities 
as the result of their experiences, declared against the 
practice. In the other instances the dynamite was used in 
conjunction with every other method, including ample 
supplies of water. In San Francisco, dynamite was the 
only available weapon of defense. In the latter instance, 
with nothing else remaining to be done, there could be no 
question. But a grave question exists whether, under 
ordinary circumstances, anything is to be gained by the 
use of dynamite. Most of the great fire chiefs will agree 
that where a day's notice of the section to be attacked 
can be had there is wisdom in trying this method. But 
unless a tract, 500 to 1000 feet wide, is cleared across 
the whole front of the fire, experience has taught that 
nothing is to be accomplished. Buildings that are wrecked 
by explosives, and are overtaken before a large enough 
tract can be cleared to effectively impede the fire, only 
serve to add to the impulse of the flames. Instead of 
offering unbroken walls there is a gnarled heap of debris. 
Instantly this is aflame. The opportunity of the fire fighter 
comes in the first rebuff that the external walls of a build- 
ing give to the advancing fire. The great structure throws 
back the flame on fuel already partly consumed and if the 
resistance given by the firemen can be applied at this 
moment with all available force, there is the chance that 



144 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

before further headway can be made the flame, lacking 
fuel, will be reduced to a degree of intensity within the 
power of the available water to permanently subdue. The 
great wall is the friend of the fireman, and it is far better 
that it be standing when the flames reach it, unless beyond 
it there can be cleared a tract wider than the flames can 
cross. 

FOUGHT FLAMES WITH WINE. 

An incident of the fire in the Latin quarter on the 
slope of Telegraph Hill was the use of wine instead of 
water in fighting the fire. 

The only available water supply was found in a well 
dug in early days. At a critical moment the pump sud- 
denly sucked dry and the water in the well was exhausted.. 

Italian residents crashed in their cellar doors with 
axes, and, calling for assistance, began rolling out barrels 
of red wine. The cellars gave forth barrel after barrel 
until there was fully 500 gallons ready for use. Then barrel 
heads were smashed in and the bucket brigade turned 
from water to wine. Sacks were dipped in the wine and 
used for beating out the fire. Beds were stripped of their 
blankets and these were soaked in the wine and hung over 
the exposed portions of the cottages, and men on the roofs 
drenched the shingles and sides of the house with wine. 
The wine won and the plucky fire fighters saved their 
homes. 

The Fire Department of San Francisco which was con- 
sidered one of the best equipped in the country outside of 
New York, was made up of thirty-three engine companies, 
seven truck companies, a water tower, a monitor battery, 
and two fireboats. In addition there was the Underwriters' 



san francisco's great disaster. 147 

Fire Patrol, a company maintained by the fire insurance 
companies, with a fire-alarm box system similiar to that 
of New York, with boxes in all of the public buildings and 
many in private establishments. 

HOW THE MINT WAS SAVED. 

Harold French, an employee of the mint, gave a 
graphic account of how the flames were successfully 
fought. He said: 

"Nearly $20,000,000 in coin and bullion are stored in 
the vaults of the mint and for the preservation of this 
prize a devoted band of employees, reinforced by regular 
soldiers, fought until the baffled flames fled to the con- 
quest of blocks of so-called fireproof buildings. 

"For seven hours a sea of fire surged around this 
grand old federal edifice, attacking it on all sides with 
waves of fierce heat. Its little garrison was cut off from 
retreat for hours at a time, had such a course been thought 
of by those on guard. The United States mint was con- 
structed in 1874 of granite and sandstone blocks, massive 
monoliths, well calculated to resist fire from without. 
Within, however, were enough inflammable materials to 
feed a lively conflagration. Iron shutters shielded the 
lower floors, but the windows of the upper story, on which 
are located the refinery and assay office, were exposed. 
Also a tarred roof over the refinery constituted a weak spot 
in the defense. Tanks of wood and other inflammable 
material scattered about the roof and upper story were a 
serious menace. 

MINT EMPLOYEES WORK RAPIDLY. 

"After the fire had swept past the Mission street side 
and the certainty of its returning from the north became 



148 san francisco's great disaster. 

apparent, Captain of the Watch Laws ordered everything 
on the roof that would burn thrown into the yard. Sol- 
diers and mint employees worked with utmost haste, 
throwing great timbers and tank staves into the court. 

"Here are located some thirty tanks of blue vitriol, the 
surfaces of which soon were covered with debris, into 
which increasing showers of cinders fell. Fortunately, the 
mint possesses a good well, and Engineer Brady pumped 
water to the fire fighters assembled on the roof. Of these 
forty were mint employees, and they were aided by a com- 
pany of coast artillery. 

"As the fire swept up Fifth street the heat increased 
to a dangerous degree as, one by one, the Metropolitan 
hall and the historic Lincoln school burst into' flame, re- 
inforced by the roaring furnace of the Emporium. On the 
west the block bounded by Sixth and Market streets on 
the north gave the gravest concern, for from this quarter 
the fire was certain to rage in its fury. 

"Fanned by a roaring northerly wind, the flames 
rioted through the structures stretching from the Windsor 
hotel to the Emma Spreckels' building, sheets of fire 
200 feet high licking up the intervening houses on Mint 
avenue. Augmented by these tinder boxes the blast of 
fire burst on the northwest corner of the mint like the 
breath of a second Pelee. 

"A few desperate fighters under ex-Chief Kennedy 
of Oakland were driven from between the tottering chim- 
neys, under whose twin terrors they had struggled to the 
last, throwing buckets of water upon the blazing roof over 
the refinery. It is largely due to the experience of former 
Chief Kennedy that this tar covered roof, the weakest spot 
of all, was saturated with sufficient water to stay the 
flames, 



san francisco's great disaster. 149 

"When the fire leaped Mint avenue in solid masses of 
flame the refinery men stuck to their windows as long 
as the glass remained in the frames. Seventy-five feet of 
one-inch hose played a slender stream upon the blazing 
window sill, while the floor was awash with diluted sul- 
phuric acid. Ankle deep in this, soldiers and employees 
stuck to the floor until the windows were shattered. 

TONGUE OF FIRE LICKS INNER WALLS. 

"With a roar the tongues of fire licked greedily the 
inner walls. Blinding and suffocating smoke necessitated 
the abandonment of the hose and the fighters retreated 
to the floor below. The roar of falling walls, the thunder 
of bursting blocks of stone, the din of crashing glass, 
swelled to an unearthly diapason. If thirteen inch shells 
were crashing against the mint walls the deafening de- 
tonations and the force of their impact would scarcely 
have exceeded the fury of the attack. Down in the deeps 
where untold wealth is so well safeguarded, artillerymen, 
ringed with blanket rolls and leaning on their rifles, 
coughed in the strangling smoke. 

"Then came a lull; the walls of brick buildings across 
the street had all fallen. There was yet a fighting chance, 
so back to the upper story the fire fighters returned, led 
by Supt. Leach,. who, by example and words, encouraged 
his men to extinguish the blazing inner woodwork of the 
refinery. 

DEFENDERS EXHAUSTED, MINT SAVED. 

"The roof was next swept by a hose, cooling the cop- 
per sheathed surface until it became passable for wet, acid 



150 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

soaked feet. An army officer axe in hand/tore up sections 
of blazing tar roof, beneath which a stream of water was 
directed. At length as 4 o'clock drew near, the mint 
was pronounced out of danger, and a handful of exhausted 
but exultant employees stumbled out on the hot cobble- 
stones to learn the fate of some of their homes. 

"The mint presents a scorched and glassless front on 
the north and west, and the towering smokestacks are to 
be torn down, but the building is intact and the plant is 
unharmed and ready for a resumption of work. 



CARING FOR THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND 
HOMELESS VICTIMS. 

With the fires at San Francisco under control, the feed- 
ing of the hungry and sheltering of the homeless became 
the great problem of the city and military authorities, who 
had to deal with the terrible situation brought about by 
earthquake and conflagration. Martial law w T as proclaimed ; 
strict orders issued to guard against the outbreaks of pes- 
tilence; concentration camps were established; an orderly 
system of food distribution was arranged; temporary shel- 
ters were erected in Golden Gate Park; vacant houses that 
were safe were reopened, and every facility was given by 
transportation companies for all who cared to do so to 
leave for the outlying cities and towns that were open to 
them. 

In the great procession of the homeless and destitute 
to the ferries, on their way out of their ruined city, all 
distinctions were obliterated in the common misfortune. 
The long period of terror, anxiety and privation had told 
on all, and most of them were at the point of exhaustion, 
and many women fainted. The city of Oakland received 
the bulk of these, cared for all it could, and those who 
could be forwarded to other places were sent away on trains. 

For the first time in its history, San Francisco has had 
its taste of martial law. When darkness fell upon the 
desolated city on Wednesday night, every inhabitant of the 
houses that were left standing groped about their homes 
in darkness early in the evening, the survivors of the ter- 
rible calamity cooking their suppers on fires built in front 
9f their houses. The wind fanned many of the fires into 

151 



152 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

threatening blazes, and for a time it looked as if many new 
fires would be started. But police orders were issued that 
all fires must be put out, and, with a score of assistants and 
soldiers, the building of fires in front of houses was sum- 
marily suppressed. In all of the homes left standing no 
lights were allowed to be burned. In places where persons 
lit their lights contrary to the orders of the police and the 
militia, citizens formed a safety corps and forced the occu- 
pants to extinguish them. The only exception was in the 
case of hospitals. Soldiers patrolled the streets, and no 
citizen was allowed to pass from one block to the other 
except by written permission of the Chief of Police. 

Mayor Schmitz has issued the following proclamation, 
which citizens were instructed to observe : 

"Do not be afraid of famine. There will be abundance 
of food supplied. Do not use any water except for drinking 
and cooking purposes. Do not light any fires in houses, 
stoves or fireplaces. Do not use any house closets under any 
circumstances, but dig earth closets in yards or vacant lots, 
using, if possible, chloride of lime or some other disinfectant. 
This is of the greatest importance, and the water supply is 
only sufficient for drinking and cooking. Do not allow any 
garbage to remain on the premises — bury it and cover imme- 
diately. Pestilence can only be avoided by complying with 
these regulations. 

"You are particularly requested not to enter any busi- 
ness house or dwelling except your own, as you may be mis- 
taken for one of the looters and shot on sight, as the orders 
are not to arrest, but shoot down any one caught stealing." 

Dr. Vorsanger, chairman of the committee to feed the 
hungry, reported that everything possible was done to pro- 
vide food for the populace, and that so far as could be told, 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 1 53 

not a hungry person existed in San Francisco Wednesday 
night. There was no trouble in the distribution of the food 
nor in procuring it, and in quality and quantity it was satis- 
factory. 

At the Young Men's Christian Association building on 
Page Street, near Stanyan, and at the Park Lodge, thou- 
sands and thousands were fed from morning till night, all 
kinds of provisions and clothing, meat, vegetables, bread, 
canned goods, tea and coffee, and the like, were handed out 
in abundance, not one being turned away. Dr. Vorsanger 
appealed to all citizens who owned teams of horses to come 
to the front with them as the committee experienced diffi- 
culty in moving the supplies. 

Wednesday night, to the hundreds of thousands who 
endured its horrors, seemed interminable. From every sec- 
tion of San Francisco there had been an exodus through- 
out the day. Until the sweep of the fire along the water 
front had interfered, all of the available ferries had been at 
work carrying the panic stricken people to Oakland and 
other cities nearby. When it was no longer possible to flee 
from the city by this means, the tide of humanity turned 
toward the city parks and the night settled down upon great 
camps of these refugees, without food, illy clad, shelterless. . 
The rich and the poor mingled there. There were thou- 
sands of children. There were the sick, the halt, the blind. 
Every class of people of the most cosmopolitan city in 
the country was represented. They were huddled under 
the makeshift coverings, the more precious of their posses- 
sions littered around them. Many had tiny improvised ovens 
and a few had actual stoves. The city had secured 
1400 tents but this was not enough canvas to cover the 
hundredth part of the throng. The army officials had sup- 



154 SA N FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

plied what tents they could and were undertaking to give 
food and water to the refugees. In another day the ar- 
rangements would be marvelously complete and there would 
no longer be reason why any should starve. But on this 
first night of horror there was only chaos. Its memory will 
linger in the minds of all who had part in it as long as life 
lasts. 

SAFE ON THE HILLSIDES. 

Thursday morning residents of the hillsides in the cen- 
tral portion of the city were seemingly safe from the roar- 
ing furnace that was consuming the business section. They 
watched the towering flames and speculated as to the ex- 
tent of the territory that was doomed. 

Suddenly there was whispered alarm up and down the 
long line of watchers, and they hurried away to drag cloth- 
ing, cooking utensils, and scant provisions through the 
streets. From Grant Avenue the procession move'd west- 
ward. Men and women dragged trunks, packed huge bun- 
dles of blankets, boxes of provisions — everything. Wagons 
could not be hired except by paying the most extortionate 
rates. 

But there was no panic. The people were calm, 
stunned. They seemed not to realize the extent of the 
calamity. They heard that the city was destroyed so far as 
business plants were concerned ; they told each other in the 
most natural tone that their residences were destroyed by 
the flames, but there was no hysteria, no outcry, no criticism. 

More than 100,000 homeless persons spent the night 
in the parks and the city streets outside the district where 
the fires were raging. 



san francisco's great disaster. 157 

STILL BURNING ON THURSDAY. 

The flames continued their advance all day Thursday 
practically unchecked, and on Thursday night no less than 
300,000 persons, or nearly three quarters of the population 
of San Francisco, spent the night somewhere under the open 
sky, because their homes were either destroyed or so peril- 
ously threatened by the conflagration that it was impossible 
to remain in them. 

Even in the districts not immediately threatened thou- 
sands of persons left their homes and fled to the parks and 
open places. All Wednesday night, an army o'i men, 
women, and children walked the streets, headed to the west- 
ward. Most of them were bound to the Presidio or Golden 
Gate Park. Thursday their numbers were trebled. Golden 
Gate Park and the surrounding hills resembled one vast 
camping ground. From the Government reservation were 
sent all the available tents that could be spared. Impro- 
vised tents were put up in all the open spaces. 

Fireplaces were built in the streets ; beds and mattresses 
dragged from burning houses were scattered about in the 
open. Not that anybody was sleeping much, but there was a 
limit to the time that human beings could remain on their 
feet. 

The inhabitants in the hills north of the wrecked Hayes 
Valley section piled their belongings into express wagons 
and automobiles, many of them hired at fabulous rates, and 
hauled them away to the parks or the Presidio. The latter 
was crowded to the limit of its capacity with refugees. 

DEAD LYING IN THE STREETS. 

Thursday was bright and warm. The sun beat down on 
the tired workers and rescuers. There was scarcely any 
water to relieve the suffering. The dead, in many instances, 



158 san Francisco's great disaster. 

lay in the streets and the ruins, but the authorities did all in 
their power to remove the bodies in order that a pestilence 
might be prevented. 

It was necessary repeatedly to move the injured from 
places where they had sought refuge, for the fire kept in- 
creasing with alarming rapidity. Water was the incessant 
cry of the firemen and the people, but there was only a scant 
drinking supply. 

Already the threat of famine was heard. The follow- 
ing appeal for aid was sent out by Mayor Schmitz to Gov- 
ernor Pardee, and shows the destitute condition of the 
people and their dire need of food and shelter : 

"Send all supplies and tents possible to Golden Gate 
Park. Have bakeries in small towns bake all the bread they 
can. We want bedding, food and tents.'' 

The committee of safety consisting of fifty prominent 
citizens, met with Mayor Schmitz Thursday morning and 
organized a finance committee, composed of James N. 
Phelan, F. W. Hellman, Claus Spreckles, J. Downey 
Harvey, Thomas Magee, J. L. Flood, Wililam Babcock, W. 
F. Herrin, M. H. DeYoung, and Robert J. Tobin. 

Before the meeting had organized, Claus Spreckles 
gave $25,000, Rudolph Spreckles $10,000, Harry Tevis 
$10,000, Gordon Blanding $10,000, Elinor Martin $5,000, 
J. L. Flood $5,000, with a promise of more. These were 
the earliest gifts to a relief sum that was destined to reach 
many millions. 

SHELTER FOR THE HOMELESS. 

Marcel Cerf, chairman of the committee of refuge for 
the homeless, had temporary structures erected in Golden 
Gate Park for the protection of the homeless. Major Mc- 



san francisco's great disaster. 159 

Iver of the United States army laid out a sanitary camp at 
this point, work on which was rushed as rapidly as lumber 
could be secured. The camp was under the supervision of 
an officer of the engineer corps of the United States army, 
and the chief of the army medical staff was in charge of it 
as sanitary officer. The conditions among the homeless in 
the park were excellent, except in the Mission district, where 
the committee was not able to reach all the people. A sub- 
committee impressed all vacant buildings, and all deserted 
houses that, after examination, proved to be safe. 

Under the direction of the authorities, committees of 
the Associate Charities Board set to work to organize the 
housing facilities of the city. It was determined that owners 
of houses that had escaped should not be premitted to take 
full possession of the structures, but that all must be used 
for the benefit of the entire populace. So a house to house 
canvass was made with the object of quartering as many 
people as possible. 

At the same time efforts were put under way to get as 
many vehicles as possible for the distribution of relief sup- 
plies. Every wagon and automobile in sight was pressed 
into service. The lack of 'teams was met before noon. In 
many cases individual's came forward and offered the ser- 
vices of their horses and wagons, one man providing the 
committee with twenty vehicles. 

Mayor Schmitz announced that the water company 
promised a supply of water in the western addition and in 
the Mission on Friday. Committees were appointed to take 
charge of the relief of the destitute. Mayor Schmitz ap- 
pointed his committee of fifty citizens special officers, with 
full power to represent him and with power to requisition 
men, supplies, vehicles, and boats for public use. 



l60 SAN FRANCISCO^S GREAT DISASTER. 

Every unburned grocery in San Francisco was taken 
in charge by the authorities, and each family was allowed to 
buy only a limited supply of food. In many places the police 
and the troops stood by to prohibit overcharging. General 
Funston announced that he hoped rations would soon reach 
the city and the people be supplied from the Presidio. 

Bakeries were built within the reservation, and the 
bread supply therefore did not fail completely. 

One hundred and fifty Stanford students traversed the 
various districts of the city, handing out supplies from door 
to door. The McNeary Mills sent 5,000 pounds of flour a 
day from Thursday on. 

At best the city never carried more than three days' 
supply of provisions and food, and with the wholesale dis- 
tricts and warehouses wiped out, this period was shortened. 
Despite the police and the troops, prices were in many in- 
stances more than trebled. A correspondent was obliged to 
pay 25 cents for a small glass of mineral water in the Hayes 
Valley district. That part of the city had been laid waste, 
and not a drop of water was to be had there except bottled 
mineral water. 

OAKLAND HOUSES 50,000 REFUGEES. 

Oakland, on Thursday night, housed and fed probably 
50,000 refugees. All day the stream of humanity poured 
from the ferries, everyone carrying personal baggage and 
articles saved from the conflagration. Thousands of Chi- 
nese men, women, and children, all carrying luggage to the 
limit of their strength, poured into the limited Chinatown 
of Oakland. 

Thousands of persons besieged the telegraph offices, 
and the crush became so great that soldiers were stationed 



San francisco's great disaster. 161 

at the doors to keep them in line and allow as many as pos- 
sible to find standing room at the counters. Every boat from 
San Francisco took hundreds of refugees carrying luggage 
and bedding in large quantities. Many women were bare- 
headed, and all of them were weak from sleeplessness and 
exposure to the chill air. 

Hundreds of these people lined the streets of Oakland, 
waiting for some one to provide them with shelter. Early 
on Thursday morning representatives of the Oakland re- 
lief committee appeared on the streets and at the railroad 
stations. Restaurant prices increased from 25 to 100 per 
cent. 

A realty syndicate at once offered Idora Park for the 
use of those left without shelter by the earthquake. The 
offer was gratefully accepted by the Police and Fire Depart- 
ments, and 200 cots were placed in the theater for the use 
of the refugees. Relief stations were also established at 
the City Hall and at the various public parks throughout 
Oakland. 

THE SECOND NIGHT IN CAMP. 

The second night of general camping out in the park 
differed but little from the first, except that the people were 
on the whole more comfortable. The volunteer fire fight- 
ers who had pretty well dropped out of the work, now that 
the fire had turned, were rested up. There were more blank- 
ets and shelter tents, thanks to the troops. 

AMPLE MEDICAL SUPPLIES. 

It was inevitable, under the circumstances, that many 
should fall sick from diseases brought on from exposure. 
The troops sent all such to the hospital of the Presidio. 



1 62 san francisco's great disaster. 

There was nothing to show that an epidemic of any kind 
was threatened. The cases were of pneumonia, acute rheu- 
matism, and the like. It was a fortunate circumstance that 
the physicians' convention was just over when the earth- 
quake came and that most of the delegates had remained in 
the city. 

The medical department of the Presidio, with the 
thoughtfulness and foresight which marked the work of the 
army all through, systematically appropriated the stock of 
the drug stores as they were threatened by the flames, and 
the medical supply department at the Presidio was well 
stocked. 

There was a strange change in the appearance of the 
crowd. On Wednesday they were actively miserable, but 
still able to weep or to laugh at their hard luck. By Friday 
they simply were dead of face and eyes. There was no emo- 
tion left in them. The soldiers were haggard. 

Back with the refugees went a great part of the Cadet 
Battalion of the University of California. These young 
men were not a success as police, and General Funston, 
having no time to train them in their duties, dismissed the 
corps. 

President Jordan telegraphed from Stanford Univer- 
sity, offering the aid of a volunteer corps of 150 students, 
Rabbi Vorsanger, needing the help of young and active 
men to aid in distributing provisions, accepted the offer. 
They arrived on Friday and were set at work. Of course, 
all classes were dismissed at both of the universities. Stan- 
ford, where the water supply is ample and the sanitation 
good, took care of some of the refugees. 

Among the people who made San Francisco and who 
guided its activities hope was reviving. While the actual 



san francisco's great disaster. 163 

refugees were numb and dulled by four days of horror and 
hardship, hope was in the air again. The citizens, with the 
fire still burning, were getting ready first to clear the city, 
restore the water supply and sanitation and make it livable, 
and then to rebuild. That they will rebuild is accepted with- 
out question. The only debate is over ways and means. 

ALL SOCIAL BARRIERS DOWN. 

The common destitution and suffering wiped out all 
social, financial, and racial distinctions. The man who on 
Tuesday was a prosperous merchant was occupying with his 
family a little plot of ground that adjoined the open-air 
home of a laborer. The white man of California was main- 
taining friendly relations with his new Chinese and Japanese 
neighbors. The society belle who, Tuesday night, was a but- 
terfly of fashion at the grand opera performance, was assist- 
ing some factory girl in the preparation of humble meals. 

Money had little value. The family that had foresight 
to lay in the largest stock of foodstuffs on the first day of 
disaster was rated highest in the scale of wealth. 

A few of the families who could get willing express- 
men were possessors of cooking stoves, but more than 95 per 
cent, of the refugees did their cooking on little camp fires 
made of brick or stone. Kitchen utensils that a week before 
would have been regarded with contempt were articles of 
high value. 

Many of the homeless people were in possession of com- 
fortable clothing and bed covering, but the great bulk of 
them were in need. The grass Was their bed and their daily 
clothing their only protection against the penetrating fog 
of the ocean or the chilling dew of the morning. 



164 san Francisco's great disaster. 

Fresh meat disappeared on Wednesday morning, and 
canned foods and breadstuff's were the only victuals in evi- 
dence. 

A well-known young lady of social position, when 
asked where she had spent the night, replied : 

"On a grave/' 

Many a San Franciscan spent Thursday night in total 
ignorance whether his family was alive or dead. 

Women and children who had comfortable homes 
Tuesday night slept on bales of hay, some of them wrapped 
in flimsy sheets as protection against the chill ocean winds, 
and others with no covering but the sky. 

There was little water in the unburned section of the 
city, but it was promised by the water company that all 
that section lying west of Van Ness Avenue would have 
connections with the water mains before Monday morning. 
About the only water to be had in the residence section was 
that which had been conserved by the thoughtful house- 
holders who filled bath tubs and every other sort of recep- 
tacle. 

The Relief Committee was advised that the water sup- 
ply would be increased just as fast as pipes could be re- 
paired. In some places railway tracks were torn up to facil- 
itate the repairing of mains. Lake Merced supplied about 
1,000,000 gallons to Lakeview Post Office and 7,000,000 
gallons to San Francisco. There was water enough stored 
to supply 35,000,000 gallons a day, the amount formerly 
used. 

15,000 SLEEP UNDER THE SKY. 

Fully 15,000 persons slept in Golden Gate Park, many 
without other shelter than the sky. There was ample food 



san francisco's great disaster. 167 

to feed the park refugees when morning came. Bread 
stations were established at the park police station. All day 
thousands stood in line in the intense heat waiting for food, 
similar condiions prevailed in other parks and open places. 
In all these camps, representatives from Alameda, Oakland, 
and Berkeley relief committees urged homeless families to 
leave San Francisco and cross the bay. 

Twenty-five thousand persons left San Francisco on 
Friday, and homeless people kept crossing the bay all night 
All who wished to cross the bay were given to understand 
that they might go to any point in the State on any trans- 
portation line free of charge, but that they must not return 
for some time. This condition was imposed to relieve the 
food situation. People went to every point around the bay, 
and even to Los Angeles, San Diego, and other cities in the 
south, anywhere to get away from the sight of the skeleton 
walls and smoking ruins of the city. 

Oakland received the greatest number of refugees, 
though Alameda, San Rafael, Vallejo, and every other bay 
city was crowded. Hundreds of others walked southward 
on roads leading toward San Mateo, Redwood City, and 
other places on the west side of the bay. 

Berkeley accommodated 2,000 people, and sent word 
to the authorities that it desired to take care of 4,000 more. 
Alameda had room for 3,000, and Fresno telegraphed that 
it wished to provide for 3,000, and asked that that number 
be sent, for which the Southern Pacific would furnish trans- 
portation. 

H. E. Breeden, manager of the Standard Oil Company, 
said that the city of Richmond could take care of 500, and 
that he would transport them from the Fulton Iron Works. 



1 68 san Francisco's great disaster. 

procession of the homeless. 

The procession began from Golden Gate Park, the Pre- 
sidio, and the north bay shore line as soon as the word went 
out that it was safe to cross the burned area toward the ferry 
building. There were two great processions to the ferry 
building, one down Market Street,, the former great thor- 
oughfare, the other from the Presidio, along the curving 
shore line of the north bay, thence southward along the 
water front . Throughout these routes, eight miles long, a 
continuous flow of humanity dragged its way all day, and 
far into the night, amidst hundreds of vehicles, from the 
clumsy garbage cart to the modern automobile. 

Almost every person and every vehicle carried luggage. 
Drivers of vehicles were disregardful of these exhausted, 
hungry refugees, and drove straight through the crowds. 
So dazed and deadened to all emotion were many of them 
that they were bumped aside by carriage wheels or shoul- 
dered out of the way by horses. 

There were persons with scanty clothing, men in shirt 
sleeves, and women in under skirts and thin waists. Many 
had no hats. Some carried children, while others wheeled 
baby carriages over the debris. It was a strange and weird 
procession. 

At the ferry station there was much confusion. Min- 
gled in an inextricable mass were people of every race and 
class on earth. Common misfortune and hunger oblit- 
erated all distinctions. Chinese lying on pallets of rags, 
slept near exhausted white women with babies in their 
arms. 

Bedding, household furniture of every description, pet 
animals and trinkets, luggage and packages of every sort 



sax francisco's great disaster. 169 

packed almost every foot of space near the ferry building. 
Men spread bedding on the pavements and calmly slept the 
sleep of exhaustion, while all around a bedlam of confusion 
reigned. 

Major McKeever, of the United States Army, was 
appointed commandant of the camps, and with his staff of 
assistants on Friday tried to bring system and order out of 
the chaotic situation. His first thought was to supply food 
and water, and then to arrange sanitary measures. 
These throngs of people, crowded elbow to elbow in the 
open lots and fields, without the conveniences naturally 
demanded, were threatened with an, epidemic of disease, 
but for the wise precautions speedily observed. 

In buildings close to the camps the police stored 
available foodstuffs and bed clothing for convenient de- 
livery. No distinctions were drawn and only few favors 
shown. 

The grave question was, "How soon would an ade- 
quate supply of food arrive from outside points to avert 
famine and destitution?" There was little food in San 
Francisco outside of what little each person possessed, and 
this could not last more than a few days. San Francisco 
is, geographically, an isolated city. Its nearest large neigh- 
bor on the south is Los Angeles.. 500 miles away. To the 
north is Portland, nearly 800 miles distant, and its nearest 
sister in the great East is Salt Lake City, 1,000 miles away. 
These cities and all of the less populated nearer towns 
made sacrifices for the destitute here, but it was to the big 
cities of the nation that San Francisco looked with an 
anxious eye for relief. How boundlessly it came is a 
story worthy of the best traditions of American generosity. 



170 san francisco's great disaster.^ 

schmitz to roosevelt. 

Mayor Schinitz sent the following telegram to Presi- 
dent Roosevelt: 

"San Francisco, April 20. 
"To the President of the United States, Washington: 

"Generous contributions of $1,000,000 from the Fed- 
eral Government for relief of destitute citizens received and 
deeply appreciated. The people overwhelmed by your gen- 
erosity. All of this money will be used for relief purposes. 
Property owners determined to rebuild as soon as fire 
ceases. City will immediately proceed to provide capital 
for the purpose of reconstructing public buildings, schools, 
jails, the hospitals, sewers and salt and fresh water sys- 
tems. The people hope that the Federal Government will 
at once provide ample appropriations to rebuild all Federal 
buildings on a scale befitting the new San Francisco. We 
are determined to restore to the nation its chief port on the 
Pacific. 

"Eugene E. Schmitz, Mayor.'* 

SUPPLIES BY TRAINLOADS. 

On Friday night supplies began coming in by the 
trainload. 

At the Presidio military reservation, where probably 
50,000 persons camped, affairs were conducted with mili- 
tary precision. Water was plentiful and rations dealt out 
'all day long. The refugees stood patiently in line and there 
was not a murmur. This characteristic was observable all 
over the city. The people were brave and patient and the 
wonderful order preserved by them was of great assistance. 

In Golden Gate Park were encamped 200,000 persons. 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. Ijl 

A huge supply station was established there and provisions 
dealt out. 

Many thousands were camped in vacant lots and 
squares scattered about the city, and these were the un- 
fortunates that were hard to reach. 

Six hundred men from the Ocean Shore railway ar- 
rived with wagons and implements to work on the sewer 
system. Inspectors went from house to house, examining 
chimneys and issuing permits to build fires. 

Clashes of civil and military orders made much trouble, 
on Saturday and a serious situation arose. The civil 
authorities gave way, however. A military district was es- 
tablished for police purposes by Mayor Schmitz and General 
Funston, and the 'army officer was placed in command. 

A conference of Governor Pardee, General Funston, 
and Mayor Schmitz was held at Fort Mason, and it was 
agreed that all supplies sent to the city for the relief of the 
homeless should be placed in the hands of the federal au- 
thorities and distributed under the direction of General Fun- 
ston and under the immediate control of Major Duvall. A 
depot for the receipt of supplies was established at the Oak- 
land Mole. 

There was perfect harmony at the conference and an 
earnest desire on the part of everyone to co-operate to the 
fullest extent in order that the relief work might be carried 
out without any confusion of orders. 

This conference served to clear the atmosphere of any 
impression that there had been any misunderstanding be- 
tween Mayor Schmitz and General Funston. 

Plenty of food was rushed into the city on Saturday, 
and the work of distribution was put well under way. The 



172 san Francisco's great disaster. 



work of making sheltered and sanitary camps and otherwise 
providing shelter was well advanced. 

The fire meantime was burning itself out against the 
bay front. The ferry house was saved after a desperate 
fight on the docks. 

MILITARY IS PLACED IN CHARGE. 

The wide separation of General Funston's headquarters 
at Fort Mason, on the North Beach, and those of Mayor 
Schmitz in Franklin Hall, at Fillmore and Bush Streets, was 
the cause of considerable confusion between the authorities. 
The distance was so great and the needs of the people so 
urgent that frequently there was no time for consultation be- 
tween them as to the proper measures to be adopted for re- 
lief. 

When Mayor Schmitz and General Funston co-oper- 
ated, however, in the establishment of a military district 
with the military headquarters at Park Lodge, engineer, 
sanitary, and signal corps officers were detailed to take 
charge of various departments. 

COOKED BREAKFAST IN STREETS. 

On Sunday morning, the wind having abated, the reg- 
ulations were relaxed and many persons breakfasted on 
food cooked in the open streets. A few bricks or stones 
gathered into the semblance of a furnace, with a few dry 
sticks beneath cans or kettles were the improvised kitchen 
in which the food of the millionaire as well as the humblest 
workman was prepared. 

All through the fine residence section of Pacific Heights 



SAX FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 1 73 

people sat on the sidewalks and took their black coffee, dry 
bread, crackers, and in some cases bacon and eggs. At the 
fires before some of the finest houses were many men and 
women, apparently wealthy, who had nothing to eat. These 
were supplied by neighbors in better circumstances. 

In the parks and along the north beach, or wherever 
people were camped, the relief stations Handed out the food 
. sufficient to relieve the situation. There were probably 
very few persons who did not receive some sort of food. 

The situation was worse at Golden Gate Park, where 
during the early hours the hungry besieged every place 
where it was thought food was stored. In some places there 
was a disposition to overrun the guards. 

In the meantime evrey sort of vehicle obtainable was 
pressed into service by the authorities, and food supplies sent 
to every part of the city where people were camped. Bread, 
milk, coffee, and even more substantial articles were dealt 
out. 

A DIFFICULT PROBLEM SOLVED. 

The admirable ability shown by General Funston and 
Mayor Schmitz in providing speedily for the homeless, 
greatly reduced the extent of the sufferings of the many 
thousands who were driven for refuge into the city parks. 
The task was one of tremendous proportions. While the 
fire was a continued menace the task of subduing it had to 
share the attention of the authorities with that of the work 
of succor. But, when on Sunday, the battle against fire had 
been won, great headway was speedily made toward insur- 
ing comfort, ample food and sanitary surroundings for the 
shelterless victims. 

Burying the dead proved a duty of immediate import- 



174 SAN francisco's great disaster. 



tance, and this work went on with determination and energy 
wherever there was need. 

Two hundred bodies found in the Potrero district, 
south of Shannon street, in the vicinity of the Union Iron 
Works, were cremated at the Six Mile House by order of 
Coroner Walsh. So many dead were found in this limited 
area that cremation was deemed absolutely necessary to pre- 
vent disease. The names of some of the dead were learned, 
but in the majority of cases identification was impossible, 
owing to the mutilation of the features. A systematic 
search for bodies of the victims of the earthquake and fire 
was begun by the coroner and the State Board of Health 
inspectors. The city was divided into sanitary districts, and 
squads of searchers were sent out to every quarter. The 
ruins of the* burned buildings in the business and the old 
residence section had sufficiently cooled to make the search 
possible. 

The body of an infant was found in the center of 
Union street, near Dupont. There was nothing by which 
it could be identified. It was learned, however, that a num- 
ber of persons had camped at this place, and it is presumed 
that the child died and was left when the party was forced 
to move. Three bodies were found in the ruins of a house 
on Harrison Street between First and Second. They had 
been burned beyond all possibility of identification. They 
were buried on the north beach. 

The body of a man was found in the middle of Silver 
street between Third and Fourth. A bit of burned envelope 
was found in the pocket of the vest bearing the name "A. 
Houston." 

Reports were made by deputies sent out by the Board 
of Health of the finding of 23 bodies in various parts of the 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 1JJ 

city. Few of them could be identified. The bodies were 
buried in various places and the graves numbered. 

The Board of Health reported a very encouraging 
health condition, considering the circumstances. Sickness 
was constantly on the decrease. There were very few con- 
tagious diseases, and these were being attended at Deer 
Lodge in Golden Gate Park. Sanitary conditions in the 
residence district were improved. 

Most of the sickness was among the people who were 
living out of doors, and it was upon these cases that the 
Board of Health concentrated most of its attention. Hun- 
dreds of volunteer doctors, dentists, nurses and helpers 
joined in the effort to allay suffering. Since the fire started 
there had been no lack of volunteers for every kind of work. 

Major Torrey of the United States Army, and Dr. 
Foster, of the State Board of Health had charge of the 
work among the people who were out of doors, and Dr. 
Hassler was the head of the sanitary work. 

Oakland furnished an engineering corps to assist in 
restoration of the water supply and another to aid in cleans- 
ing the streets. 

MEDICAL ATTENTION INCREASED. 

Dr. K. A. L. Mackenzie, chief surgeon of the Oregon 
Railroad and Navigation Company, arrived in charge of 20 
physicians, a number of nurses and plenty of hospital sup- 
plies. Dr. W. E. Carl, of the Oregon State National Guard, 
arrived, in addition to the entire Third Hospital Corps of 
Oregon. 

At the emergency hospitals which were quickly estab- 
lished and attended by many physicians almost within a 



178 san Francisco's great disaster. 

half hour's notice the only complaint that really existed was 
the lack of bedding. Though the army and navy were 
called on for blankets, quilts and the like, the supply fur- 
nished by these departments was not enough. 

More than 100 physicians and attendants served in the 
park. New volunteers and inspectors who were appointed 
by the Board of Health were assigned to districts other than 
the park, as the physicians were assured that the park emer- 
gency hospital was under perfect surveillance. 

PLENTY OF FOOD AND WATER. 

M,ajor Frank V. Keesling, in charge of Golden Gate 
Park, made this report to General Funston on Friday. 

"I beg to advise you that not a case of serious sickness 
exists in this park. All rumors to the contrary are false 
and malicious. I will promptly advise you if there is any 
change, or if anything of a serious nature occurs." 

Though the heroic work of the officials in charge of 
the great task of caring for the homeless saved the victims 
from some of the direst of possible consequences, there was 
much misery and suffering. This reached its climax on 
Sunday evening when a heavy rain set in. Once thoroughly 
drenched the city could only be described as a hopeless, de- 
spairing, miserable mass of stricken humanity. The blind- 
ing torrents of rain poured down on the refugees in the 
scantily sheltered camps and dispelled the buoyancy and 
hope which marked the tent dwellers after news came that 
the fire had been quelled. Sitting dully beneathv the drip- 
ping tents, chocking from the heavy smoke of the tiny ex- 
temporized stoves, breathing the damp and reeking air, 
utterly disconsolate and disheartened, thousands spent a 



san francisco's great disaster. 179 

night and day of indescribable privation and hardship. 

Carefully nurtured women lay on the soaking ground, 
pools of water around them. The suffering of the ill and 
wounded in the hastily thrown up hospitals, too, became in- 
tensified. Everywhere were men, women and children, 
clothed in dripping garments without hope of change, for 
in practically every case, what they had on was all they had 
in the world. Colds and pneumonia made their appearance 
to add to the misery and the grim spectre of contagion 
stalked amid the wretched throngs. 

The rain began at midnight on Saturday, a few hours 
before the beginning of the fifth day since the disaster befell. 
In despair, thousands adopted the philosophy that all nature 
had turned upon the once splendid city of San Francisco 
and its people. The brave talk of a new city speedily rising 
was no longer heard. Indeed, the new despair, after up- 
lifted hope and faith which came with the general 
improvement of Saturday, was one of the really great trag- 
edies of this long series of unprecedented horrors. Now 
there would be a downpour of tremendous force. Then a 
chilling drizzle would add a new form of misery. Again 
torrents of rain. So through the Sabbath, a day which will 
not be forgotten by any of the 300,000 who lived through it 
in San Francisco's camps. The effect could be seen in the 
crowds which gathered to watch the relief trains from the 
East come in. On Saturday, smiles and cheers were the 
greetings of the train crews. On Sunday, silence, a pro- 
found, melancholy silence had taken the place of the cheers. 
The people looked on with the indifference of utter despair. 

The sanitation problem, too, became doubly serious. 
The rain laden atmosphere blanketed the camps. The 
brisk, fresh breezes of the preceding days were a mighty 



180 san francisco's great disaster. 

factor in safeguarding health. Vile odors lingered under 
the pall of cloud and were responsible for hundreds of cases 
of illness. Frantic efforts were begun to cope with this 
great problem. Sanitary officers commanded the services 
of every available man, and every wagon and cart available 
was set to work carrying debris and offal beyond the con- 
fines of the camp. Everything that human power could do, 
was done. But the problem was almost beyond solution 
even under the best of circumstances. With the infinite 
difficulties to be overcome there is little wonder that the 
results of the effort were far from satisfactory to the men 
who labored so valiantly against an invasion of disease, 
born of the great disaster. But while the city lay in a stu- 
por of misery, the work of relief throughout the camps and 
in the city, itself, never faltered. Fifty-two food distribut- 
ing points were established and from these tons of pro- 
visions of every kind went out to the people. 

THE RAIN CLIMAX TO MISERY. 

The rain, with all its attendant discomforts, really 
caused more utter misery than the devastating flames. No 
one who has not experienced the heavy downpours of the 
coast can realize the agonies suffered by the refugees. 
Water was everywhere and where, but a few days before, 
drops were sought eagerly by parched throats, there ran 
rivers and the stricken thousands were as busily avoiding 
the water as they had been frenzied in finding it. While the 
fire raged, men fought without thought of self and peril 
and toil kept from their minds a full realization of what 
was happening and the awful extent of the disaster to their 
city. At the very moment when there was time to stop and 



san francisco's great disaster. 181 

think, when the mental reaction was inevitable, then came 
the rain, and the scene, heartrending in any guise, seemed an 
hundredfold more dreadful under these conditions. There 
is excuse if in those Sunday hours San Franciscans utterly 
gave way to despair. All the camps were little more than 
pools of water. Horses straining with loaded provision 
wagons slipped in the treacherous mud, soggy tents, drip- 
ping inmates, everywhere a murky blanket of mingled smoke 
and* moisture ; these were a trinity of misery and wretched- 
ness. 

The people, in utter abandon, seemed in thousands of 
cases to be overcome by stupor. Men and women were to 
be seen crowded about the tiny fires in their tents, cough- 
ing and choking from the heavy smoke. Nervous energy 
seemed to have vanished. Bitterness, complaining, sullen 
anger, had succeeded bravery and faith and hope. 

In almost every tent a fire was burning. Coffee, half 
heated, was drunk without enjoyment, soggy food eaten 
methodically. Tobacco, which was the sole sustainer of 
thousands of men until relief came, had lost its flavor. 
Nothing, save the shining of the sun, could help. 

And here is one of the remarkable things about the 
people who withstood so bravely the calamity. While there 
was a call for action they responded magnificently, but with 
this dull, uneventful day, they almost gave up hope. 

Thousands of delicately nurtured women suffered in- 
describable sufferings ; thousands of strong men broke down 
completely. Nothing could be done to aid them and it 
was the most hopeless day San Francisco had ever endured. 

SUFFERING IN HOSPITALS. 

In the hospitals the suffering was horrible. Whatever 



1 82 



could be had was sent to these institutions and given women 
and children. The homeless were housed in chill and cheer- 
less churches, in garages and barns and those who had 
saved their homes were called upon to take care of the un- 
fortunates exposed to the storm. With few exceptions 
those who had homes responded readily to the new call 
made upon them and where they did not, the butt ends 
of rifles quickly forced a way through inhospitable doors. 
While the storm added to the difficulties of the general 
committee, especially of those having in charge the care of 
the sick, the sanitation of the city and the housing of the 
homeless, it was a spur to even greater efforts to bring 
order out of the chaos prevailing. Regular shelter tents 
were provided as well as cots standing off the ground. It 
was realized that these provisions were imperative, as much 
so as the providing of food. 

The rain started at midnight and until 3 o'clock in the 
morning it poured and drizzled at intervals, while a high 
wind added a melancholy accompaniment, howling and 
sighing about the buildings in the burned district. For 
three hours it ceased and hope was beginning to revive, 
but as the sun sent forth its first warm rays, they were 
swallowed in the dull clouds again and the blinding sheets 
came down once more. All through the day it continued 
at intervals. 

MAN PLEADS FOR CHILDREN. 

One instance of suffering tells all the pitiful stories. 

About 4 o'clock, when the rain had been falling heavily 
for an hour, a middle-aged man, white faced in his distress 
and fatigue, appeared at the headquarters of the General 
Committee. He had walked two miles from his camping 



san francisco's great disaster. 183 

place in the park to make an appeal for his suffering wife 
and little ones. As he told of their distress, tears coursed 
down his cheeks. His wife and children were, he said, 
without covering other than a sheeting overhead, and were 
lying on the naked ground, their bodies protected only by 
a quilt and blanket, which of his household bedding were 
all he had managed to save. These had quickly been soaked 
and while unwilling to complain on his own account, he 
could not bear to listen to the wails of his loved ones and 
had tramped all the way from his camping place to the 
committee headquarters in the hope that there he might 
find some means of getting his family under shelter. 

The condition of the 5,000 persons encamped in Jef- 
ferson Square was terrible. Not more than five per cent, 
had even an army tent, and makeshifts were constructed of 
carpets, bed sheets and every imaginable substance. They 
were inadequate to keep out the heavy rain. Houses were 
requisitioned for these people as fast as possible. 

The St. Paul Lutheran Church, near Jefferson Square, 
was utilized as an emergency hospital. In the main audi- 
torium about forty-five patients were lying on mattresses 
spread on the floor. There were nineteen physicians and 
twenty-nine nurses employed. The patients were mostly 
suffering from exhaustion, nervous strain or slight wounds. 

At Fort Mason there was little misery on account of 
the cold rain. About 8,000 persons encamped there and on 
account of the sandy and sloping ground sanitation was not 
bad. Food was plentiful and of a fair variety. The health 
of the refugees at this place was as good as could be ex- 
pected under the circumstances. 



184 san Francisco's great disaster. 

SYSTEM IN FEEDING HOMELESS. 

Homeless people were fed in a systematic manner. 
From the water front, where the boat loads of provisions 
docked, there was an endless procession of carts and drays 
carrying food to the scores of sub-stations established 
throughout the city and the parks. At these stations food 
and drink, comprising bread, prepared meats and canned 
goods, milk and a limited amount of hot coffee and even 
fruit were served to all those who applied. About 1500 
tons of provisions were moved daily from the water front. 

The Committee on Feeding the Hungry reported the 
most satisfactory progress in the huge task and established 
fifty-two places, where the hungry secured food. 

The Committee of the Whole designated a sub-commit- 
tee of seven which directed the relief work so far as food 
was concerned. Dr. Vorsanger was chairman. The head- 
quarters of the bureau were in the City Hall at Bush and 
Fillmore Streets. 

From all points, news of approaching relief trains 
came in, and by Monday night sufficient provisions had ac- 
cumulated at the Oakland pier to supply the needs of the city 
for more than a week. Plain food of every description was 
plentiful and luxuries began to arrive. A coffee famine was 
threatened, but fresh consignments of this stimulant were 
distributed from almost every food depot. 

There was an abundance of meats for stewing, though 
all the finer cuts were used at the hospitals. Immense cat- 
tle trains rolled northward from the prairies of the south- 
west and chickens and eggs came from nearby towns. The 
most pressing need was for vegetables. 

The lines of applicants at the various food stations 



san francisco's great disaster. 187 

were blocks long. Every one received rations for a single 
person as many times a day as he asked. Volunteer dis- 
tributors issued the provisions under military protection. 

The committee secured two main warehouses, and all 
provisions, as they reached the piers, were carted there. 
These were the J. A. Folger Building, Spear and Howard 
Streets, which stands intact, though in the burned area, and 
the Moulder Schoolhouse, Page and Gough Street, which 
supplied that part of the residence quarter spared by the 
conflagration. Depots for Government supplies were at the 
Presidio, the Folsom Street dock and Fort Mason. 

Large supplies of blankets, tentings and other material, 
to provide coverings for those who were scantily supplied, 
reached the supply stations rapidly. Barracks were com- 
pleted at several points and in these many people found com- 
fort and shelter against the inclemencies of the weather. 
The situation in the congested camps, such as Golden Gate 
Park and the various public squares through the city, was 
considerably relieved by the departure of many people for 
points on the other side of the bay, after Sunday. 

CHINESE SUFFER SEVERELY. 

Among the refugees suffering the most severely were 
the Chinese. These fled from their caverns in the winding 
Chinatown with the first shock of the quake and the soldiers 
afterwards refused to let any enter the blazing district. 
Consequently few carried away any of their possessions, and 
as the holdings of the wealthier class were almost entirely 
in real estate or in their business places and homes, all are 
destitute. 

Although provided for in the distribution of food, they 
could obtain no shelter. For the first two days all racial 



1 88 san Francisco's great disaster. 

distinctions were forgotten in the wild scramble for safety, 
but when order had been somewhat restored the Calif or- 
nian's natural antipathy for the Chinaman reasserted itself. 
Even before the fire they were restricted almost en- 
tirely to the narrow confines of Chinatown. At first they 
were scarcely remembered in the matter of shelter, but a 
permanent sanitary camp for them was finally established 
in the blocks bounded by Franklin and Octavia, Chestnut 
and Bay Streets. It was laid out and constructed under the 
direction of the army engineers and the Government sup- 
plied 4000 shelter tents for the purpose. 

RACE TRACK A CAMP. 

Shellmound Park, at Emeryville, a few miles outside 
the city, and the race track, were transformed into one big 
camp for refugees. The cooks of the race track and restau- 
rants worked night and day providing food for the homeless 
who found shelter in the sheds and some of the track barns. 
Hundreds of track followers were shipped from Emeryville 
to outside points, and the horsemen who saved any money 
divided with the less fortunate. John Lyons, a bookmakeri 
drew $7000 from one of the San Francisco banks before it 
closed and provided living expenses for many of the track 
followers left penniless. 

For the first time since the earthquake, the refugees 
had plenty of substantial food on Sunday. They were 
no longer obliged to subsist upon bread and canned stuff 
entirely, as they had been during the previous days of their 
trying experiences, but were given hot coffee, canned meats 
and even cakes and oranges. Oranges came in plentiful 
supply from Southern California, and the sight of Cali- 



san francisco's great disaster. 189 

fornia's famous product was everywhere hailed with de- 
light. 

The gaunt spectre of starvation was banished by the 
magnificent response of the people of California in partic- 
ular and by the entire nation in general to the appeals that 
went out for assistance. Food by the carload and boat- 
load poured into Oakland on Monday, in sufficient quanti- 
ties to overwhelm the committees which had in charge its 
distribution. So great was the volume of foodstuffs 
brought into the general depot at Oakland Mole that the 
general committee made an appeal for skilled labor in 
handling of these supplies. Grocers, butchers and commis- 
sion men were requested to secure men familiar with the 
handling of foodstuffs in order that the distribution at the 
scores of stations established might go on without con- 
fusion. 

It must not be understood by the charitable people of the 
country that there was a surfeit of food for the sufferers. 
While the supply was abundant, it will be well for the 
public to remember that the homeless thousands had to 
be fed and cared for by the organized relief committee for 
an indefinite period. It was desired, therefore, that contri- 
butions be continued everywhere until the people who had 
been rendered helpless and destitute by the city's misfor- 
tune could care for themselves. 

There was no danger of a water famine, but the 
scarcity of water was causing great inconvenience. About 
two-thirds of the section of the city which was not burned 
was supplied with sufficient water for pressing domestic 
needs, but, of course, there was not enough to be had for 
fire-fighting purposes. Because of this fact, the most 
stringent orders were issued by the military and civil au- 



I90 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

thorities that no fires should be built within any house, 
and no lights, not even a candle light, could be shown at 
night in the houses. All cooking had to be done on the 
sidewalks or in the open streets and in daylight. 

The banks, housed in tents or in modern buildings 
which were seared but not destroyed by the fire, opened 
for business on Monday. The loss of their vaults was 
slight ; they were ready to pay all reasonable claims. There 
had been a shortage of ready money. People of means, 
unable to realize on checks, had been as poor as the poorest. 

WORK OF RELIEF SOON UNDER WAY. 

The work of feeding the hungry and sheltering the 
homeless on Thursday, received more attention. The great 
emergency of stopping the spread of the fire having been 
met, there was more opportunity for a survey of the situa- 
tion. Just as soon as the outside world had learned of the 
calamity it had thought of the prospects of suffering, on 
the part of the unfortunates who had been thrust out on the 
street without food or shelter. 

Misfortune has its compensation, for it lets down the 
barriers of humanity. The man who may appear cold and 
heartless in the ordinary course of business is likely to re- 
veal a warmth of sympathy and a heart as true as steel 
when emergency arises. Enemies lay aside their bitterness 
and work for the common cause. 

This was the case in San Francisco. Oakland, across 
the bay, and the little cities, villages and communities near 
by immediately opened their hearts and their purses at the 
first news of the calamity. 

Scarcely had the roar and rumble of the earthquake 



I 9 I 



died away and the fire started in San Francisco when Oak- 
land, herself, a heavy sufferer from the earthquake, be- 
gan to ship food supplies by boat to San Francisco. 

Other supplies began to come from all directions. 
Mayor Eugene Schmitz rose to the occasion and appointed 
his bitter enemy, James D. Phelan, chairman of the Gen- 
eral Committee, having the situation in charge. Competent 
men of prominence in every line of activity were named 
to take a hand in the sheltering of the homeless and the 
feeding of the hungry. 

General Funston, with the large supplies stored in this 
vicinity for the army, and with a superb organization under 
him, took charge of the distribution and the maintenance 
of order. Neighborhood relief stations sprang up like 
mushrooms, and they soon learned that general commis- 
sions for this purpose had been organized, so they co-oper- 
ated. 

300,000 TO BE FED. 

The great rush was at the parks and on the ocean 
beach. The spacious Presidio and beautiful Golden Gate 
Park sheltered nearly three hundred thousand persons. Ra- 
tions to feed them were distributed Thursday and Fri- 
day. By Saturday the work of relief was well organized 
and was extended to every district in the city. Head- 
quarters for the municipal government and for the differ- 
ent commissions were established in Franklin Hall and 
vicinity. Franklin Hall is an ancient frame structure in 
Fillmore Street, near Bush. If quickly became the active 
centre of the city, while Fillmore Street, an unpretentious 
thoroughfare of small stores, was transformed into a 
temporary successor to Market Street. Temporary offices 



I92 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

of the newspapers of the city and the various business 
houses were placed in tiny rooms, in barns or in old shacks 
all along the streets. Information bureaus were established 
here, so people in San Francisco might register to let their 
inquiring friends know of their whereabouts. 

The main thought was for food and shelter. The 
people of San Francisco, a city of 345,000 persons, were 
camped in the streets in the public squares, on the military 
reservations and in the park. Wednesday night there were 
few in San Francisco who> remained indoors. Thursday 
night the situation was much the same, although a few well 
to do found shelter with friends beyond the immediate 
line of danger. Friday, the more permanent relief camps 
began to be established. Out of the endangered and de- 
stroyed districts the people had poured to watch the prog- 
ress of the fire. Some had waited too long and had re- 
tained only the scanty clothes on their bodies. Women, es- 
caping hastily from endangered buildings, welcomed the 
men's overalls which were supplied them to protect them 
from the chilled breezes which crept under the scanty gar- 
ments against their unprotected limbs. Children were in 
their night clothes; men were little better off. The more 
provident and far-seeing had gathered together bedding 
and outer garments, but a large majority had seized only 
trinkets. Many a man was observed while the fire was rag- 
ing onward wheeling a couch, pausing occasionally to rest 
a while upon it, and then dragging it on, while scores were 
to be observed hauling trunks by means of ropes, stopping 
frequently to rest before resuming their toilsome march. 

As soon as they had dragged their lares and penates 
to an open lot, there they sat themselves, Micawber-like, to 
await what might turn up next. Procuring a pole here 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 1 93 

and there, they spread an occasional blanket over their 
household goods, stuck up a card with pencilled informa- 
tion as to who they were and set out to look for food. 
This was not a difficult undertaking. The offerings of the 
people in the nation had begun to arrive. Soon after the 
earthquake some avaricious butchers and grocers had 
sought to get exorbitant prices, relying on the needs of the 
populace. They soon desisted. The military seized the 
dealers' stores and they were punished as martial law might 
require. 

AMERICAN "NERVE" TO THE FORE. 

Any one who doubts that the Americans are a cheer- 
ful race should have seen the spirit displayed throughout 
this disaster. If any one maintained that women are the 
weaker sex he should have watched their action during 
the hour of trouble. Great danger was at hand — long 
hours of vigil were near. 

It was a test of endurance, mentally and physically. 
Many men there were who rose to the situation, but the 
women bore the physical burdens. There were some 
women who yielded to their fears, but the vast majority 
faced peril and even death with calmness and philosophy. 
While the men were discussing the fire the women were 
packing up the household belongings in a sheet and were 
carrying the heavy bundles down the stairs and out along 
the streets. They were looking after the children ; they were 
planning for the future. 

When night came and it was necessary to keep an eye 
on the progress of the fire, it was the women who said, 
"You lie down and go to sleep and I'll watch," and when 
the crowds had reached the little places of refuge, it was' 



• 194 san francisco's great disaster. 

the women who quieted and reassured the children, who 
straightened out the few remaining pieces of household 
furniture the best they could, also suggested the sticking 
up of a blanket on poles to cover them, and who declared 
that so far as they were concerned they did not care so 
long as they were alive. 

Never were there more picturesque camps than those 
which gave some sort of shelter to the people driven from 
their homes. 

The population of the camps was not confined to the 
poor. More than one man whose wealth runs into the hun- 
dreds of thousands or more was glad to be under a tree 
to have his family near the great bulk of the middle or the 
poorer classes. 

The principal camps were in the military reservations 
in the Presidio, in picturesque Golden Gate Park and in 
Jefferson Square. Military tents were issued by the gov- 
ernment and made to go as far as they could, the remainder 
being left to the resources of the individuals. 

Some lay under the trees without any covering and 
without anything between them and the ground. Nearly 
all, however, were able to procure at least a blanket to lie 
on and a piece of cloth to put above them. Billboards were 
torn to pieces and used for temporary shacks and sometimes 
they were raised on poles. Again two boards were set up 
like wedged tents. Anything available was used for shel- 
ter. 

The people without houses were not the only campers, 
however, because owing to the conditions of the chimneys 
stringent orders had been given prohibiting fires in the 
houses. 







F 







san francisco's great disaster. 197 

CHEERFUL IN MISFORTUNE. 

Along every street in the city, even Market Street, 
might be seen rows of stoves which had been moved from 
the houses or of piles of brick arranged with ovens. About 
these men and women bent, busily engaged in cooking their 
meals. 

Nearly every one seemed to take it as a great deal of 
a lark. Cheery calls from neighbor to neighbor could be 
heard by any passerby, and the housewives appeared to take 
as much pleasure in the way they fried bacon on a piece 
of tin over brick ovens as they would ordinarily in giv- 
ing the richest heat and flavor to an entree in a course 
dinner. Here again, all class distinctions were swept away. 

No food was to be had except what was issued by the 
relief corps. The supply stations were scattered all over 
the city and before the end of time of stress there were be- 
tween one hundred and fifty and two hundred of them. 
Morning, noon and night, long lines could be seen standing 
in front of each station. There was food and plenty, though 
it might be simple and a person might have to wait a long 
time for it. 

There was food for the children, for the man who 
stood ahead of the man with the high silk hat and the 
frock coat, for' the man who, a week before, could draw 
his check for $100,000 and get it cashed, but who now 
stood in line to get his loaf of bread and can of corned 
beef. 

In these days nobody knew how much he really was 
worth. A man might have had a million a day before 
the earthquake and be hurrying around trying to find two 
dollars in cash to carry himself and family along. Checks 



198 san francisco's great disaster. 

were worthless; the best of drafts could not be cashed; 
the banks were closed by fire, and throughout California 
the Governor was declaring a legal holiday from day to 
day to give the financial institutions a chance to get their 
bearings. 

One man went three days with a solitary hundred 
dollar bill unable to get change. Merchants declined credit 
to their best customers when by chance they had anything 
to sell. Ready cash was the only thing with which to 
purchase any article, and even this could not buy food. 
The hungry could satisfy themselves in only one way and 
that was to go stand in line in every relief station. In that 
way plenty could be obtained. 

Supplies of food afforded the least of the trouble with 
the twenty millions of dollars and more subscribed by the 
nation and with the carloads of food which were rushed 
on through passenger schedules from all directions. 

The feat of feeding the 300,000, was performed with 
amazing efficiency, and will remain a bright page in the 
history of San Francisco's tragedy. 

THE COMMITTEE OF SAFETY. 

The following is the list of the members of the Com- 
mittee of Safety named by Mayor Schmitz, to whom San 
Francisco's 300,000 homeless ones owe a debt of graditude : 

James D. Phelan, Herbert Law, Thomas Magee, 
Charles Fee, W. P. Herrin, Thornwell Mullalley, Garret 
W. McEnerney, W. H. Leahy, J. Downey Harvey, Jere- 
miah Dinan, John J. Mahoney, Henry T. Scott, I. W. Hell- 
man, George A. Knight, I. Steinhart, S. G. Murphy, Homer 
King, Frank Anderson, W. J. Bartnett, John Martin, Allan 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 1 99 

Pollock, Mark Gerstle, H. V. Ramsdell, W. G. Harrison, 
R. A. Crothers, Paul Cowles, M. H. DeYoung, Claus 
Spreckles, Rudolph Spreckles, C. W. Fay, John Mc- 
Naught, Dent Robert, Thomas Garrett, Frank Shea, James 
Shea Robert Pisis, T. P. Woodward, Howard Holmes, 
George Dillman, J. B. Rogers, David Rich, H. T. Cress- 
well, J. A. Howell, Frank Maestretti, Clem Tobin, George 
Tourney, E. D. Pond, George A. Newhall and William 
Watson. 



SURVIVORS TELL HEARTRENDING TALES. 

Fully 450,000 persons were in San Francisco on the 
morning of April 18, when the earthquake marked the 
opening of one of the world's greatest tragedies. Its 
story will never be told adequately from the standpoint 
of these hundreds of thousands as a whole. It will ever 
be a matter of individuals. To each the event is a separate 
event. To those who would know and appreciate the many 
tragic and dramatic aspects of the catastrophe must learn 
as many as possible of these individual stories. Some have 
not the power of graphic description. Amid so many 
thousands, fortunately for the inquirer there were hundreds 
possessing this rare faculty, in some degree. We will go 
to some of these to get glimpses, at least, of our story. 

Four residents of Los Angeles, two men and two 
women, who were thrown together by the earthquake and 
for two days and a night walked the streets and hills 
of San Francisco, were Dr. Earnest W. Fleming, Oliver W. 
Posey, Mrs. Francis Winter, and Miss Bessie Marley. 
They were strangers till they met in front of the Palace 
Hotel on Wednesday morning, after the earthquake. 

They returned to their homes in Los Angeles, feet 
swollen and bruised from miles of walking over ragged, 
broken streets, and with flesh seared and blistered from 
cinder and flame. The women remained in a local hotel 
all evening, prostrated. Mr. Posey went directly home, 
but Dr. Fleming, unkempt and disheveled, went to the 
Chamber of Commerce to give suggestions for relief. 

It was on his advice that the Relief Committee made 
purchases of linen and bandages to send north. He said 
thousands were suffering from burns. 

201 



202 san francisco's great disaster. 



AWOKE IN GROANING BUILDING. 

• 'I was sleeping in a room on the third floor of the hotel/' 
said Dr. Fleming, "when the first shock occurred. An 
earthquake in San Francisco was no new sensation to me. 
I was there in 1868, a boy of ten, when the first great earth- 
quake came. But that was a gentle rocking of a cradle to 
the one of Wednesday. 

"I awoke to the groaning of timbers, the grinding, 
creaking, and roaring. Plastering and wall decorations 
fell. The sensation was as though the buildings were 
stretching and writhing like a snake. The darkness was 
intense. Shrieks of women, higher, shriller than that of 
the creaking timbers, cut the air. 

"I tumbled from the bed and crawled, scrambling to- 
ward the door. The twisting and writhing appeared to in- 
crease. The air was oppressive. I seemed to be saying to 
myself, 'will it never, never stop?' I wrenched the lock, 
the door of the room swung back against- my shoulder. 
Just then the building seemed to breathe, stagger, and right 
itself. 

"But I fled from that building as from a falling wall. 
I could not believe that it could endure such a shock and 
still stand. The next I remember I was standing in the 
street laughing at the unholy appearance of half a hun- 
dred men clad in pajamas and less. 

"The women were in their night robes; they made a 
better appearance than the men. There was raiment of 
every hue — and in many cases raiment never intended to 
be seen outside the boudoir. 

"I looked at a man at my side ; he was laughing at me. 
Then for the first time I became aware that I was in paja- 
mas myself. I turned and fled back to my room. There I 



san francisco's great disaster. 203 

dressed, packed my grip, and hastened back to the street. 

"All the big buildings on Market street toward the 
ferry were standing, but I marked four separate fires. The 
fronts of the small buildings had fallen out into the streets 
and at some places the debris had broken through the 
sidewalk into cellars. 

"I noticed two women near me. They were apparent- 
ly without escort. One said to the other, 'What wouldn't 
I give to be back in Los Angeles again ?" 

"That awakened a kindred feeling, and I proffered my 
assistance. I put my overcoat on the stone steps of a 
building and told them to sit there. In less than two min- 
utes those steps appeared to pitch everything forward, to 
be flying at me. The groaning and writhing started afresh. 

"But I was just stunned. I stood there in the street 
with the debris falling about me. It seemed the natural 
thing for the tops of buildings to careen over and for fronts 
to fall out. I do not even recall that the women screamed. 

EVERYBODY JUST WALKED. 

"The street gave a convulsive shudder and the build- 
ings somehow righted themselves again. I thought they 
had crashed together above my head. The two women 
arose and started to walk. I followed in an aimless sort of 
way. 

"The street was filled with moving things again. The 
rainbow raiment had disappeared, and all were clad in 
street clothes. Every one was walking, but there was no 
confusion. We did not even seem in a hurry. 

"Down Market street the flames were growing 
brighter, but we walked with our luggage to the St. Fran- 
cis. Fires were burning down toward the ferry, but the 



204 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

Fire Department had turned them. We had faith in the 
Fire Department. 

"Soon I became aware that squads of soldiers were 
patrolling the streets. It appeared perfectly natural. I 
do not think I wondered why they were there. 

JOKED WHILE THEY SHIVERED. 

"Men and women were all about us. We looked at 
each other and talked, even tried lamely to joke. But every 
few minutes a convulsive quiver swept through the city. 
The others seemed to be shivering. 

''I noticed that the eyes of the men and women were 
rolling restlessly. Their tones were pitched high. It 
seemed to grate on my nerves. T,hen I fell to wondering 
whether I was talking shrilly too. 

"I went to a grocery without a front and bought a 
few supplies, things that would make a cold lunch. The 
grocer did not even overcharge me. He was particular 
to give me the right change. 

"The soldiers came and told us to move on. It 
seemed the natural thing to do. By this time the fire was 
creeping dangerously close. We would have walked to 
the ferry. We tried it on a score of streets, but that wall 
of fire was always there. It seemed to creep across in 
front of u&. 

"And in front of the fire always walked the soldiers. 
Many times I hired express wagons. We would ride for 
a few blocks and get out on the sidewalk. In not a single 
instance were we charged more than a reasonable price for 
the ride. 

"Once we loitered until the soldiers came up. A 
rough fellow who had been standing by my side tried to 



._£*£ 




san Francisco's great disaster. 207 

dart through the line. He looked like a beach comber 
A young Lieutenant caught him by the coat. 

" 'Here!' he called to his men. 'Shoot this man.' 
"I hurried on without looking back. I don't remem- 
ber that I heard a shot fired. But at the time it seemed 
so trivial a matter that I did not pay much attention. 

SAILORS USING BIG GUNS. 

"The air was filled with the roar of explosions. They 
were dynamiting great blocks. Sailors were training guns 
to rake rows of residences. 

"All the while we were moving onward with the 
crowd. Cinders were falling about us. At times our cloth- 
ing caught fire — just little embers that smoked once and 
went out. The sting burned our faces, and we used our 
handkerchiefs for veils. 

"Everybody around us was using some kind of cloth 
to shield his eyes. It looked curious to see expressmen 
and teamsters wearing those veils. 

"Quite naturally we seemed to come to Golden Gate 
Park. It seemed as though we had started for there. By 
this time the darkness was settling. But it was a weird 
twilight. The glare from the burning city threw a kind 
of red flame and shadow about us. It seemed uncanny; 
the figures about us moved like ghosts. 

"The wind and fog blew chill from the ocean and we 
walked about to keep warm. Thousands were walking 
about, too; but there was no disturbance. Families 
trudged along there. There was no hurry. All appeared 
to have time to spare. The streets, walks and lawns were 
wiggling with little parties, one or two families in each. 

"All night we moved about the hills. Thousands were 



208 san francisco's great disaster. 

moving with us. As the night wore on the crowd grew. 
Near daylight the soldiers came to the park. They were 
still moving in front of the fire. 

"I had bought a little store of provisions before night- 
fall. I walked over to the fire made by one squad of sol- 
diers and picked up a tin bucket. I went to a faucet and 
turned it on. A little water was there. I boiled some eggs 
and we ate our breakfast. Then we concluded to make our 
way to the water front as soldiers were driving us from that 
part of the hills. The flames were still after us. 

SHOES CUT FROM WOMEN'S FEET. 

"We walked toward the water front for hours. Part 
of the time it was through the burned district. The streets 
were rough, the sidewalks jagged and broken. The wd- 
men suffered severely. Jagged stones and wires cut their 
thin shoes from their feet. Bandages did no good. 

"The walk back through the ruins was the worst of all. 
Dead horses lay along our path. Some were burned to a 
crisp. On Howard street, near Market, lay the charred 
bodies of two men. Those were the only dead we saw in 
the streets. 

"Walking and resting, we reached the ferry near sun- 
set. Soldiers seemed to be everywhere. They were of- 
fering milk to women and children. We took a boat to 
Oakland and hastened by trains to Los Angeles. If it were 
not for the sting of the cinders that still stick to my face, 
I might think it was all a nightmare." 

MERCHANTS THREW STORES OPEN. 

Miss Bessie Tannehill, of the Tivoli Theatre, San 
Francisco, is also a refugee here. 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 200, 

"I was asleep in the Hotel Langman, Ellis and Mason 
streets, when the shock came," said Miss Tannehill 
"There were at least ioo persons in the building. At the 
first shock I leaped from my bed and ran to the window. 
Another upheaval came and I was thrown from my feet. 
I groped my way out of the room and down the dark stair- 
way. Men, women and children, almost without clothing, 
crowded the halls, crying and praying as they rushed out. 

"We finally obtained a carriage by paying $100. Fire 
was raging at this time and people were panic stricken. 

"After getting outside of the danger region I walked 
back, hoping to aid some of the unfortunates. The mer- 
chants on upper Market and nearby streets threw open 
their stores and invited the crowds to help themselves. 
Mobs rushed into every place, carrying out all the goods 
possible. 

"I saw many looters and pickpockets at work. On 
Mason street a gang of thieves was at work. They were 
pursued by troops, but escaped in an automobile." 

WERE ON A TWELFTH FLOOR. 

Mr. and Mrs. William R. Harryman were on the 
twelfth floor of the St. Francis Hotel when the shock came. 

"The room seemed to twist out of shape," said Mr. 
Harryman, "and the furniture was disarranged. The 
door stuck and it required all my strength to open it. Men 
were shouting, women screaming hysterically and every- 
body was endeavoring to get to the elevators and stair- 
ways. It was soon discovered that the elevators were not 
running and the people fell and rolled down the stairs. 

"My wife and I descended, and on the first floor found 
a mass of people, whom the hotel employees were implor- 



2IO 



ing to remain there as it was the safest place; but all 
seemed determined to get outside. 

"Dressing as we ran, my wife and I found we had 
picked up enough clothes to present a respectable appear- 
ance, except that we had no shoes. We gradually fought 
our way to the ferries. 

"All along the way we saw bodies of human beings 
who had met death; some had been crushed by falling walls, 
others had jumped from high buildings, while still others 
had been trampled to death by the excited populace. 
Horses, having broken their hitch reins, were dashing 
frantically along the streets, knocking people down. 

"We finally got aboard a ferryboat and landed on the 
other side of the bay. We took the first train for the East." 

THE SCENE FROM THE HARBOR. 

Officers of the Steamship Itauri, which lay in the har- 
bor joined in this description: 

"As seen from the bay it was a sublime, but terrible 
spectacle. We were anchored more than a mile out in the 
roadstead, but the wind as it swept over the burning city 
and down upon us was like the breath of a demon. At 
times it was impossible for us to remain on deck, so great 
was the heat. The terrific concussions of dynamite 
brought hundreds of fish to the surface. Our clearance 
papers were burned, but we could not retain our anchor- 
age, and late Thursday afternoon we started toward the 
open sea. 

"Wharves were filled with people. They beckoned 
to us that they needed assistance. It was the thought of 
self-preservation that kept the Itauri's course unchanged. 
At midnight we were 30 miles at sea, but the flames were 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 211 

still visible, and until almost dawn we stood on deck and 
watched the reflection of the flames as they played to and 
fro on the cloud mountains which hung over the ruined 
city." 

SOME PROMINENT VICTIMS. 

James D. Phelan, former Mayor of San Francisco and 
chairman of the Finance Relief Committee, said: 

"When I was awakened in my house by the shock, I 
made my way down town toward the fire, which was rag- 
ing in two directions. One branch of the fire destroyed 
my office building on Market street and the other my 
home in the Mission. Of my personal effects I saved 
but a few. My family left my home and went to Golden 
Gate Park, where I followed and pitched two tents which I 
had at my home. Later I accompanied my family to Bur- 
lingame, 20 miles south, in an automobile. 

"The city will be rebuilt on lines of strength and archi- 
tectural beauty heretofore unknown." 

Rudolph Spreckels: 

"I can give no connected account of my experience 
now. I have not had time to think about myself. I vol- 
unteered as a special officer and assisted the firemen in 
trying to check the fire, and my experience at Van Ness 
avenue and Union street was certainly a thrilling one. Of 
course, San Francisco will be rebuilt, and better than ever/' 

Herman Oelrichs: 

"1 was in the St. Francis Hotel. I lost all my per- 
sonal effects except the suit of clothes that I have on and 
two flannel shirts. I have done what I could everywhere 
to relieve the suffering, and just at present am too ex- 
hausted to think connectedly." 



212 



Homer S. King, president of the San Francisco 
Clearing House, said: 

"San Francisco has a future and will rebuild. There 
is not even a panic, and I have seen more than one panic. 

"The banks are more than willing to help the people 
who have shared in the common distress. Chicago and 
Baltimore recovered from even greater setbacks. The 
people of San Francisco have always been progressive, and 
are recognized as hard workers. There is no reason why 
they should not do the same." 

METROPOLITAN OPERA COMPANY. 

Members of the Metropolitan Opera Company, who 
were appearing in San Francisco, and the night before the 
earthquake had delighted a monster audience, suffered 
severely. 

All of the splendid scenery, stage fittings, costumes, 
and musical instruments were lost in the fire which de- 
stroyed the Grand Opera House, where the season had just 
opened to splendid audiences. No one of the company was 
injured, but nearly all of them lost their personal effects. 

Alme. Sembrich placed her loss by the destruction of 
her elegant costumes at $20,000. She was fortunate 
enough to save her valuable pearls. The total loss to the 
members of the organization may reach $150,000. 

On the morning of the earthquake the meimbers of the 
company were distributed among the different hotels, most 
of them being at the Palace, St. Francis, and the Oaks. 
Messrs, Caruso and Scotti, and Misses Walker, Abott, Ja- 
coby, and other principals were at the Palace. Messrs. 
Plancon and Dippel and Mme. Sembrich were at the St. 
Francis, and the musicians and the chorus at the Oaks. 



san francisco's great disaster. 213 

Mme. Eames, Miss Fremstead, and several others were at 
private hotels or residences. 

GUARDED HIS VALISE. 

The sudden shock brought the singers out of their 
bedrooms in all kinds of attire. The women were in their 
night dresses the men in pajamas. None paused to dress. 

Ten minutes later Mr. Caruso was seen seated on his 
valise in the middle of the street. Many of the others had 
rushed to open squares or other places of supposed safety. 
Even then it was difficult to avoid the debris falling from 
the crumbling walls. 

A few had time and presence of mind to pack up some 
necessary articles before the outbreak of the fires in all 
directions barred them from returning to their rooms, but 
very few saved anything except what they had stood in. 

Several of those stopping in the Oaks were awakened 
by plaster from the ceiling falling on their beds, and had 
barely time to flee for their lives. 

One singer was seen standing in the street, barefoot 
and clad only in his underwear, but clutching a favorite 
violin which he had carried with him in his flight. The 
first impulse of many was to rush for their trains, which, 
however, happened to be across the bay. 

Mr. Rossi, the basso, though almost in tears, was 
heard trying his voice on a corner near the Palace Hotel. 

Gradually calm was restored, and taking a lesson from 
the coolness of the Californian, the artists began to regard 
their plight as less serious than it might have been. 

Nearly all suffered more or less from the sudden stop- 
page of the food supply. A rush was made for the nearest 
grocery stores, and baskets were quickly filled with provi- 



2i4 san francisco's great disaster. 



sions and what wine could be secured before the closing of 
the liquor establishments. The next day many were re- 
duced to a diet of bread, chocolate ,and sardines. 

Ernest Goerlitz, general manager of the company, 
until the Grand Opera House was actually reached by the 
flames, had hoped to give the proposed matinee perform- 
ance of "The Marriage of Figaro." He and a few others 
thought the playhouse was fire-proof, and not ten minutes 
before the building went up in smoke some of the musi- 
cians were dissuaded from trying to save their instruments. 

SLEPT NEAR THE LIONS. 

Alfred Hertz, the conductor, was one of those quartered 
at the Chutes after the earthquake. He slept near the Zoo. 

"To my dying day I will never forget my experience 
when I was awakened by the roaring of lions, I knew not 
but that I was in a jungle or den of wild beasts/' he said. 

Mr. Parvis, Mr. Dufriche, the baritone and stage man- 
ager, and Mme. Dufriche, the harpist, narrowly escaped 
death when the Oaks collapsed. Mme. Dufriche lost her 
precious Arard harp in the fire at the Opera House. 

The courage displayed by some of the artists, notably 
the Misses Edyth Walker and Bessie Abott, helped largely 
to quiet the fears of their comrades, and their kindness to 
the chorus was highly appreciated. 

After the earthquake, Mme. Eames and Mme. Sem- 
brich found refuge at the home of Dr. Harry Tevis, but 
this later was burned, and they were then cared for by 
other friends. 

Miss Olive Fremstead, who had apartments at the 
St. Dunstan, was fortunate to escape with her life, the 
building being shattered by the earthquake. 




THE MISSION DOLORES, FOUNDED OCTOBER 9th, 1776, 

THE OLDEST CHURCH IN SAN FRANCISCO 

NOT DESTROYED BY THE FIRE 



217 



The guests at the Palace Hotel, among them being 
the Misses Walker and Abott, who were on the top floor 
when the great shock came, took it for granted that death 
was inevitable. The regular swaying of the walls and the 
pitching of the floor they compared to the motion of an 
ocean steamer in a storm. Yet, until destroyed by fire, 
the big hotel stood firmly on its foundation. 

MME. EAMES TELLS EARTHQUAKE STORY. 

The following statement of her experiences during and 
after the earthquake w T as written by Mme. Eames, of the 
Metropolitan Opera Company. 

"I was in bed, and at the first quiver of the earthquake 
awoke to perfect consciousness. I was in a four post bed 
with a very heavy mahogany canopy over it. I wondered 
whether I had better get out, but the futility of any move- 
ment to ^ave myself came over me, and I lay quite still, 
only holding to the bed to be kept from being thrown out. 
I was absolutely without fear at any time. As soon as the 
movements began to quiet themselves I thought of mov- 
ing, but each time they redoubled in intensity. 

"At last at the end of the first big shock I heard the 
voice of our host asking if I were afraid. Of course, I got 
up and dressed as quickly as I could, and rushed down to 
the Hotel St. Francis to see what was happening to Mme. 
Sembrich. Dr. Tevis and I got into an automobile with 
which an acquaintance was fortunately passing. On get- 
ting there we rushed up six flights on foot, as no elevators 
were going, only to find Mme. Sembrich gone. We at last 
found her and begged her to come up with us, as Dr. 
Tevis' house was on the top of Nob Hill. We passed the day 
there watching the flames approaching and feeling shocks 



218 san francisco's great disaster. 

of earthquakes at intervals, Dr. Tevis all the time trying 
to get some sort of conveyance to get us out of town, not 
from fear of earthquake, but of the approaching fire. He 
at last found a landau from a livery stable, whose driver 
consented to wait in front of the door until we must leave. 

"The town was burning between us and the ferries, 
and there was then difficulty in getting there. At about 
eight o'clock the doctor said we had better get out 
to the north beach, as we might be surrounded by flame, 
atid not be able to get away. The house was ultimately 
surrounded by flames on Thursday and was the last to re- 
main standing in that vicinity. It was a monument of per- 
fect taste, and was burned to the ground with all in it, 
including our clothes, we being able to carry with us in 
our hurried flight only our valuables and one change of 
clothing. We took blankets and lay out all night on the 
ground, the dew falling so heavy that we were soaked. 

"About nine o'clock on Thursday morning Dr. Tevis 
said the fires had burned themselves out between us and 
the ferry and we could get over to Oakland, and must go 
at once. The carriage took our few belongings and two of 
our party least fit for violent exercise, while the rest of us 
walked. At the Oakland ferry we found a large crowd, but 
after waiting there three-quarters of an hour for the car- 
riage, which we had outwalked, and which through some 
misunderstanding had waited for us at another place all 
the time, we got safely over to Oakland. " 

"There, leaving our two maids in carriages, we took 
a train to a suburb of Oakland, where lives a relative of 
Dr. Tevis. There we found the house closed and lay about 
on the ground waiting for them to find means of conveying 
us to Dr. Tevis' country place, sixty miles from Oakland 
As we were leaving North Beach for the ferry the manager 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 2IO, 

of our host's country place met us, having come to look for 
us, and it was he who told us we could get away. 

"All the part of the town through which we walked 
was later swept by the flames, which returned to destroy 
all that in the previous fire they had left unconsumed. 
Through some misunderstanding Sembrich's maid was left 
with some members of the opera company in Oakland, so 
she returned to the special train they were making up. 

"I had lost my voice completely, and felt I could not 
return to endure a possible three days' sojourn in a rail- 
way train. At about five o'clock Thursday afternoon we 
managed to get an automobile, and Dr. Tevis, Mr. Petrigo, 
my maid and myself came up here, where we have been 
camping out. We found the caretakers in a state of terror 
on our arrival, and the house demolished by the earth- 
quake. We had taken a ride in an automobile of four 
hours, and were glad to lie on a comfortable mattress in 
one of the cottages of his employees. 

"At no time have we felt any fear — the whole thing 
seems perfectly natural. When everybody is suffering 
from the same cause, one's personal sensations are mini- 
mized. One feels very small. As I lay in my bed at the 
first shock I took mental notes, as I shall probably never 
see another earthquake, and I am not sure I want to." 

EXPERIENCE OF ADOLPHUS BUSCH. 

This is the story of his experience sent by Adolphus 
Busch to friends in St. Louis: 

"I left San Francisco this morning with my family, 
Henry Nicholaus and Carl Conrad. The earthquake which 
shook San Francisco made all frantic, and was undoubtedly 
the severest ever experienced in the United States. The 



220 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

beautiful Hotel St. Francis swayed from south to north like 
a tall poplar in a storm. Furniture, even pianos, was 
overturned, and people were thrown from their beds. 

"I quickly summoned my family and friends, and 
urged them to escape to Jefferson Square, which we 
promptly did. 

"An awful sight met our eyes. Every building was 
partly or wholly wrecked, roofs and cornices were falling 
from sky-scrapers on lower houses, crushing and burying 
the inmates. 

"Fires started in all parts of the city. The main water 
pipes burst and flooded the streets. One earthquake fol- 
lowed the other. The people became terrified, but all be- 
haved wonderfully calm. 

"Over 100,000 persons are without shelter, camping 
on the hills. There is no light, water or food. 

"Fortunately, martial law was declared at once, and 
the regulars and militia maintained order and discipline, 
otherwise more horrors would have occurred, and riots 
might have prevailed. 

"The fire spread over three-fourths of the city and 
could not be controlled, no water to fight it, no light, and 
the earth still trembling. 

"Building after building was dismantled to check the 
progress of warring, seething flames, but of no avail. We 
were fortunate to secure two conveyances, and fled to Nob 
Hill, from which we witnessed the indescribable drama. 
Block after block was devastated. The fires blazed like vol- 
canos, and all business houses, hotels, theatres, in fact, the 
entire business portion lay in ruins and also two-thirds of 
the residences; but I trust 'Frisco will rise a phoenix from 
its ashes, that a new and more beautiful San Francisco will 
be born, and that the generous American nation will give 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 221 

it the support and financial assistance it so fully deserves. 

"After a night of horrors we boarded the ferry for 
Oakland, where my private car had been since Tuesday. 

"We are now en route home with nothing saved but 
what is on our backs, but extremely happy at having es- 
caped unharmed. 

ADOLPHUS BUSCH." 

Arthur Welshans, the dramatic critic, who was in 
the midst of the disaster wrote this of his experiences. 
"The flames have been conquered and the pall of disaster 
is now lifting from the ruins of the city, leaving bare to 
the gaze of the world a specter of desolation such as the 
people of the United States have never before witnessed. 
The flames were checked north of Telegraph Hill, the 
western boundary being along Franklin street and Cali- 
fornia street southeast of Market street. The firemen 
checked the advance of flames by dynamiting residences. 
Many times before had the firemen made such an effort, 
but always previously had they met defeat. But success 
at this hour means little for San Francisco. It stands for 
but the conquering of flames after the battle had been lost. 
Long ere the final struggle came San Francisco had been 
lost, its greatness had been lowered, its future terribly 
blighted. 

''The flames are still burning fitfully about the city, 
but the spread of fire has been stopped. It is the end of 
losses, but for many days there will be smoke to carry its 
message aloft into the skies, and for months will be the 
ruins to bring their reminder of holocaust. 

"Oakland has become the nearest and the logical 
place for refuge for the homeless thousands who are leaving 
the doomed city across the bay by every boat. Thirty 



222 san Francisco's great disaster. 



thousand homeless ones found shelter and comfort in 
churches, halls and private residences of the city. 

"The horrors of the scenes and the terrible suffering 
occasioned by the lack of water can perhaps be imagined 
by this statement — when a small stream of dirty water 
spurted up through the cobblestones and formed a muddy 
pool at the corner of Powell and Market streets, hundreds 
of men and women, rich and poor, old and young, knelt 
and drank to quench their terrible thirst." 

Mrs. Hannah Frank, a visitor in San Francisco from 
Chicago, said: 

"My room was at the St. Francis hotel. When I was 
awakened by the terrible rumbling and shaking the walls 
seemed to be falling around me. Somehow — I don't know 
how — I got dressed and went out to the street, and there, 
as soon as people began to realize what had happened, a 
party of the hotel people w r as made up and we secured a 
delivery wagon, and then by some roundabout way got to 
the ferry. 

"I have seen two eruptions of Vesuvius, but neither 
of them was anything like the experience that I passed 
through in San Francisco. In 1900, at the time of the 
eruption, I was at Recina, Italy. I used to think it was a 
terrible experience, but as I look back at it now it seems 
nothing but a trifling adventure." 

SAW HIS COMPANION KILLED. 

Mr. Egbert H. Gold, president of the Chicago Car 
Heating Company, Railway Exchange building, said: 

4 'I was asleep in a room on the sixth floor of the Pal- 
ace Hotel when the quake came. It threw me out of bed 
and rolled me over the floor back and forth like a ball. The 
walls of the room crashed forward with a grinding sound, 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 223 

covering me with plaster. I hurriedly made my way down- 
stairs, and was the first to reach the office. There was no 
one there but the night clerk and two men who had been 
scrubbing out. One of the scrubbers seemed to have gone 
crazy. He was rushing about wildly with a pail of water in 
one hand and scrub brush in the other, shouting: 

" 'Dis am de end ob de woiT, suah.' The other one 
said: 'This is the worst ever/ as though he had passed 
through earthquakes before. 

"I remember everything that occurred perfectly well, 
although I must have been excited. My next recollection 
is I was running down the street as fast as I could run in 
my pajamas. Walls were falling about me in Market 
street. The grinding and rumbling noise continued. A 
wall dropped across the street directly in my path. At 
the same instant I noticed that my feet were full of glass 
and I had no clothes on. I walked slowly back to the 
hotel, thinking I was several miles away from home and 
without any money and I'd better go back after some. 

"The women were crying when I returned to the 
hotel, but they all seemed safe, so I hurried back to my 
room, packed all my clothes, got my money, and escaped 
without as much as the loss of a collar button. I had my 
camera with me and it occurred to me that it would be a 
good time to get some photographs, but I dismissed the 
thought as I had more important things to think of. 

"As I was leaving my room with my suit case in my 
hand I heard cries in the adjoining room: 'Let us out! Let 
us out! We'll die ! ,; 

"A man and his wife were in the room and the earth- 
quake had twisted the wall so they could not open the 
.door. 

"I put my shoulder to the door and succeeded in open- 



224 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

ing it a few inches. With the man and his wife pulling with 
all their might we soon had the door open enough to let 
them out. I advised them to pack up their clothes, but 
they ran downstairs without paying any attention to me 

"I was with another man from the hotel, whose name 
I did not know. As we proceeded we saw a number of 
dead men lying in the streets and one woman. One man 
had been flattened out by a falling wall. I turned to> my 
companion as we passed this grewsome sight and saw him 
pitch forward. His head had been taken off cleanly by a 
falling stone." 

H. R. Crockett of Southampton, England, who was 
on a trip around the world and was in the Occidental hotel 
during the earthquake, said: 

"I've seen enough of America, and propose to get 
back to England, which if it is a little island as they say, 
at least is not disturbed by such convulsions of nature as 
I saw out here. I have lost my baggage and become sepa- 
rated from two companions with whom I was going 
around the globe. I was in an earthquake in Italy, but it 
was nothing like this. 

"Falling plaster and the swaying of the bed awoke me. 
and while I knew what it was I had no conception of the 
ruin it had wrought." 

A WOMAN'S DESCRIPTION. 

A woman's description of the scenes of horror fol- 
lowing the earthquake was furnished by Mrs. Mary Long- 
street, a San Franciscan. Mrs. Longstreet said the burning 
city "was like a picture of hell." This is her story: 

"We were all on the eighth floor of the hotel, and were 
awakened when the building began rocking like a ship. 

"Suddenly, as we were standing there, the entire city 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 227 

seemed to catch fire. In all directions and as far as we 
could see the great tongues of flame leaped into the air. 
Terrified as we were, we stood by the window. In less time 
than it takes to tell it the entire part of the city between us 
and the ferry was ablaze. It was a beautiful yet terrible 
sight. We remained in the hotel till 10 o'clock, and at that 
time succeeded in getting a carriage and an automobile. 
We then left the hotel and drove to the home of a friend 
a mile away. When we got there we found the house in 
ruins. 

"We then went to the home of the Tevises and re- 
mained there until we were driven out by fire. Finally we 
found refuge at the residence of J. F. Winslow, on Nob 
Hill. 

"We slept on the floor that night, but they had no 
food, and after scouring the city over my brother managed 
to purchase ten ship's biscuits and four boxes of sardines, 
and after eating these we made beds on the floor and tried 
to sleep. We had a little candle in our room', but that we 
did not need. 

"The hundreds of fires made the city light as day, with 
a ghastly, sickening glow that made one tremble with fear. 

"Words cannot describe human emotions at such a 
time as that, and I wish I could shake off that feeling that 
has clung to me ever since the first shock of the earthquake 
aroused me from my slumber. 

"I saved some things — three pairs of shoes, I believe. 
I put the shoes in a bag and brought them along. My 
diamonds and money I left in the hotel. But we all did 
that. No one at such times cares for their effects. We 
expected death at any minute, and were surprised that it 
did not come. Can you wonder that I saved the shoes in- 
stead of my valuables? 



228 san francisco's great disaster. 

"You would never know San Francisco now. It is 
nothing but ruins. Did you ever see a child build a house 
with blocks and then knock it down? Well, that is the 
way buildings fell all over the city during the earthquake. 

"I cannot describe it." said Mrs. Wilcox who shared 
the ordeal with Mrs. Longstreet. "I awoke at the first 
tremble, and, oh, what a terrible sensation! Plaster fell 
from the walls, and I expected at any second to see 
the St. Francis Hotel crumble to the earth. With the 
earthquake came that horrible roar. It sounded like thou- 
sands of violins being played on the bass strings, and all 
at a discord. 

"Did you ever see the picture of 'Hell/ which hangs 
in the Santa Barbara Mission? It was something like that, 
only a thousand times worse. We had a hard time getting 
to Oakland, where we caught a train. The railroad people 
deserve great credit. Once on the train we were shown 
every courtesy. If people did not have money they were 
taken along just the same. Money was no object at that 
time." 

SHOT TO END THEIR AGONY. 

"Soldiers shot living beings to save them the torture 
of death in the flames," said Miss Margaret Underbill 
"The horror of it all was so overwhelming, that the sight 
of the dead became commonplace." 

Miss Underbill told of her escape after the first shock 
from a three-story frame building, which later collapsed. 
It adjoined the Sacred Heart College. 

"We stopped to watch the soldiers, men, and police- 
men, who, with timbers from the wreckage, were at work 
upon the front of a burning' frame building/' she said. "The 
front of the three-storv structure had fallen outward. 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 229 

'Tinned beneath the structure was a man who pleaded 
piteously w T ith the men who worked to release him. His 
head and shoulders projected from the wreckage. With 
his free arm he tried to help the workers by pulling at the 
timbers. His eyes bulged from their sockets. One by one 
the men were driven back by the flames until only one was 
left, a soldier. 

"From where we stood Ave could see the very timber 
that held the man down, smoke. His hair and mustache 
were singed. 

"For God's sake, shoot me/ he begged. His voice 
rose clear above the roar of the flames. The soldier 
turned and went back. 

"Shoot me, before you go/' the man yelled. The sol- 
dier turned quickly, his rifle at his shoulder. The rifle 
cracked, and the blood spurted from the head of the man. 

"I covered my eyes and walked on." 

THE STORY OF A PRISONER. 

Harshly graphic is the story told of the earthquake 
by Detective Sergeant Theodore F. Snyder, of the New 
York Central Office, and his prisoner, Edward E. Clark, 
twenty-one years old, whom Snyder went to San Francisco 
for, to answer a charge of grand larceny. The detective 
sergeant got to the city of tragedy a few hours before the 
great quakes began, while young Clark was one of the 150 
prisoners in the Hall of Justice, which was crumbled by 
the shock. The narration of experiences of each man 
makes a dreadful story. 

Early on the morning of April 18, Clark, whose cell 
adjoined a myriad of the same on the top and fifth floor of 
the Hall of Justice, awoke from a sound sleep, with the 



23O SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

noise of falling masonry in his ears and the frenzed cries 
of more than seven score prisoners, similarly locked in their 
narrow cells, clamoring for help. Among the men was a 
murderer, who was to meet his punishment the next day, 
and it popped into the minds of the jailed beings that his 
confederates, in a desperate plan, had blown up the place 
in an effort to liberate him. No one seemed to know what 
became of the man to be hanged. 

To render their misery the greater the prison guards, 
almost to a man, Clark declared fled from the building, but 
Judge Cavanaugh, with several police officers, arrived at 
six o'clock, less than an hour after the great shock, and 
calmed as well as possible the terror of the inmates, ex- 
plaining that an earthquake had taken place but succor was 
to be attempted in that every man would be taken from 
the building immediately. Hurriedly the Judge dis- 
charged all prisoners who were locked up on petty charges. 
The rest, in charge of the militia, hastily summoned, were 
marched to the corner of Broadway and Trade street. 

Passing through Kearny street, said Clark, a man 
could be seen beneath the wreckage of a building, begging 
piteously for relief, by being shot, if necessary. Then, ac- 
cording to Clark, a policeman fired twice at the man under 
the debris, but did not appear to have given him a mortal 
wound, whereupon the man's own brother snatched the 
revolver from the policeman's hand and himself fired a bul- 
let into the brain of the unfortunate, whose rescue was im- 
possible. Later, Clark was told, the man who fired the 
fatal shot gave himself up and was discharged. 

For fifty-two hours, the men in the band he was with 
had no water or food. They were taken first to the Broad- 
way county jail, which used to be an ancient Spanish 
prison, but the fire menaced this structure and the pris- 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 23 1 

oners were taken on a steamer in the afternoon to Fort 
Mason,, seven miles away, whence they were shipped to 
San Quentin, where the warden denied them entrance on 
the ground that they were federal prisoners, in the charge 
of troops. The steamship took the men again toward San 
Francisco, but as it entered the harbor the thousands of 
persons who lined the wharves, holding out entreating 
arms and pleading to be taken aboard and away from the 
scene of destruction, caused the captain to steam away, 
finally landing the prisoners at Alcatraz Island, a solid rock 
whose center had a great fissure caused by the earthquake. 
There Clark was when Snyder got him and brought him 
to New York. 

The detective sergeant told of having reached San 
Francisco at half-past one o'clock on the morning of the 
shock, taking a room at the Netherlands Hotel. He was 
shaken out of bed by the quake a few hours later, and ran 
out into the hallway, where the first man he saw cried out 
that an earthquake had come and every one had better run 
for his life. Snyder got his clothing on partially and seized 
his baggage, a grip, with which he ran down stairs with 
the crowd. He went to the Hall of Justice at a few min- 
utes after six o'clock, when Mayor Schmitz had arrived 
with Chief Dinan, of the Police Department, and Snyder 
was told by the latter to help Detective Sergeant Edward 
Gibson, of the San Francisco police, to get as many au- 
tomobiles as possible and bring them to the Hall of Justice. 
The two men requisitioned quite a number, which were at 
once put to use. 



DEATH PENALTY FOR LOOTING. 

A disaster such as that which overwhelmed San Fran- 
cisco brings out the nobility of some men and opens the 
way for revelations of the depths to which others are sunk. 
Thus, in the very midst of an heroic battle against nature 
and fate, waged by some, others give thought only to the 
advantages of such an hour for theft and deviltry. Mayor 
Schmitz and General Funston joined in prompt and drastic 
measures to halt the thief and looter. Orders were issued 
to the policemen, troops and citizen guards to shoot on 
sight any one seen in the act of robbery. Fourteen paid 
the penalty of death for violation of the mandate that they 
must not steal. This is one of the sad chapters in the human 
side of the catastrophe which San Francisco would willingly 
forget. 

Public opinion everywhere sustains the order and the 
men who carried it out. In critical hours little things may 
destroy the last vestige of law and order and introduce a 
reign of anarchy. In a city of more than four hundred 
thousand persons there is bound to be a large number, need- 
ing only a leader, to profit by any nefarious scheme which 
may be safely carried out under cover of the universal con- 
fusion. A single theft, against which no strong arm is 
raised, can easily lead to a thousand. Under such circum- 
stances the sanctity of property becomes a tenet which it is 
tenfold necessary to uphold. The slow process of arrest, in 
the midst of disorganization, such as inevitably follows in 
the trail of great public disasters, is practically out of the 
question. The fact that troops take the place of civil officials 
in the preservation of order is significant of the need of all 

233 



234 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

of the rigor that military jurisdiction means. The "strong 
arm" of the military is the loaded gun. The civil tribunal 
as well as the civil official must give way and in place of 
judge and jury must be substituted the death-dealing ball. 

The men upon whom it devolved to defend and protect 
the public in the midst of the great disaster, to preserve, de- 
spite the difficulties, some form of stability and organization, 
took the inevitable step of demanding obedience on pain of 
death. It was the fate of the community in the balance 
against the individual and the latter must go clown in such 
a crisis. Ample warning was served. The men who were 
killed, knew the fate that would follow detection. They 
deliberately put their lives in the scale against the chance 
of securing a handful of gold. It is a tribute to the excel- 
lence of the provisional government that not one such es- 
caped with his life. San Francisco's chief executive and 
General Funston could not protect property against earth- 
quake, nor could they guarantee that this or that should not 
be burned, but they did insure every fragment that was not 
burned from the depredations of thieves. It cost fourteen 
lives to achieve this. San Francisco is better off without 
fourteen so lost to shame, and dead to honor. 

Every great calamity, such as that at San Francisco, 
proves how truly narrow the border between the "rights" 
of the State and the "rights" of the Federal Government. 
Four thousand United States troops, backed by the authority 
of the United States, have invaded California, and insofar 
as they have shot down fourteen citizens, have made war on 
the Commonwealth. They were rushed into the city by .the 
commanding general without orders, in violation of every 
law which governs the States and governs the army. And 
yet, they were hardly less welcome than the trains of food- 



san francisco's great disaster. 237 

stuffs, and the general who sent them will receive only 
commendation. When the crisis has passed, the troops 
will return to the government reservation and the State 
and Federal Government will resume all of that separate- 
ness which the law demands. A month later, if a detach- 
ment from the Presidio were desired by the city or State 
officials for participation in a local Fourth of July celebra- 
tion, it would take a week of correspondence and "red tape" 
before a single trooper could be moved. It is said of the 
laws of the Medes and Persians that they "varied neither 
jot nor tittle," but new ideas have been born with the un- 
folding of civilization. 

General Funston will not be courtmartialed and dis- 
missed from the army, though he has broken more army 
law probably than any officer of a century; California will 
not summon her militia to repel Federal invaders; there 
will be no demand for indemnity for her citizens shot down, 
by what, in law, amounts to a foreign foe. And when 
another great calamity is visited upon an American city 
some soldier of equal valor and initiative as Funston will 
do the same thing, or receive the universal condemnation 
of his countrymen. These events at San Francisco call 
attention once more to the limitations upon the most 
solemnly enacted law and prove that only one law is uni- 
versally stable, the unwritten law of self-preservation and 
that other which places upon the shoulders of all, responsi- 
bility for all of the great brotherhood of man. 

Prompt action on the part of the military authorities 
and the Governor resulted in the maintenance of order. 
The regulars sent by General Funston were supplemented 
by marines from the six men-of war in the harbor. These 



238 san francisco's great disaster. 

co-operated with the police and the city authorities. There 
were also militia ordered out by the Governor. 

THIEVES HANGED BY CIVILIANS. 

Oliver Posey, Jr., said: 

"Were it not for the fact that the soldiers in charge 
of the city do not hesitate in shooting down the ghouls 
the lawless element would predominate. Not alone do the 
soldiers execute the law. On Wednesday afternoon, in 
front of the Palace Hotel, a crowd of workers in the ruins 
discovered a miscreant in the act of robbing a corpse of its 
jewels. Without delay he was seized, a rope was obtained 
and he was strung up to a beam which was left standing in 
the ruined entrance of the Palace Hotel. 

"No sooner had he been hoisted up and a hitch taken 
in the rope than one of his fellow criminals was captured. 
Stopping only to obtain a few yards of hemp, a knot was 
quickly tied and the wretch was soon adorning the hotel 
entrance by the side of the other dastard. 

"These were only two instances of law executed by 
civilians that I personally witnessed, but I heard of many 
more seen by others. The soldiers do all they can, and 
while the unspeakable crime of robbing the dead is un- 
doubtedly being practised, it would be many times as prev- 
alent were it not for the constant vigilance on all sides as 
well as the summary justice." 

ROBBER OF DEAD SHOT DOWN. 

Jack Spencer had much to say of the treatment of 
those caught in the act of rifling the dead of their jewels. 
"At the corner of Market and Third streets on Wed- 



240 san Francisco's great disaster. 

nesday," said Mr. Spencer, "I saw a man attempting- to cut 
the finger from the hand of a dead woman in order to 
secure the rings which adorned the stiffened fingers. Three 
soldiers witnessed the deed at the same time and ordered 
the man to throw up his hands. Instead of obeying the 
command he drew a revolver from his pocket and began 
to fire at his pursuer without warning. The three soldiers, 
reinforced by half a dozen uniformed patrolmen, raised 
their rifles to their shoulders and fired. With the first shots 
the man fell, and when the soldiers went to the body to 
dump it into an alley, eleven bullets were found to have 
entered it." 

When the emergency first arose the various neighbor- 
hoods were filled with a great desire to emulate the exam- 
ples of the vigilantes of the Bonanza days and organize 
self-constituted vigilant committees, whose special duty was 
to maintain order and to keep fires out of the houses. They 
did fairly well the first night or so, but after that the 
trouble began with friction between them and the militia. 

Drastic measures were necessary to prevent crime, es- 
pecially looting. Orders had been given by General Funs- 
ton and the Mayor to kill any looter on sight, and the vigi- 
lantes and a large number of the National Guards took ad- 
vantage of this order to practice their marksmanship on 
men who might happen along and who in their excited 
condition might be said to be acting in a suspicious manner. 
The trouble finally came to an end when the city was divided 
into districts for strict military control. The Federal forces 
took the most difficult territory to guard, and behaved like 
the nation expects its regular to behave, faultlessly. 



NATION GIVES MILLIONS FOR RELIEF. 

The American heart is big and generous. The Ameri- 
can purse is lightly hinged and ready to spring open at 
every call for aid. This has been proved times without 
number. When famine has visited distant corners of the 
earth no succor has sped more swiftly than that from 
America. When disasters have fallen upon peoples of any 
clime or race the fact has been the same, America has 
vied with all the earth in sharing of her plenty. To Russia, 
to India, to Ireland, to Italy, to Porto Rico, have gone 
boundless gifts when came the cry, "Come over and help 
us." But it is when some community of the American 
sisterhood passes under a cloud of affliction that the limit- 
less generosity of the nation becomes apparent. Ask Chi- 
cago, ask Boston, ask St. Louis, ask Charleston, ask Galves- 
ton, ask Baltimore, and ask San Francisco, what manner 
of heart is the heart of the American people. Each one of 
these great cities has faced grim disaster; here fire, there 
flood, at another earthquake. But whether fire, or flood, or 
earthquake, the paramount fact has been that fellow- 
Americans were stricken and needed aid. Never has it 
failed that the entire nation has arisen as one man and 
words of sympathy have sped to the scene of catastrophe, 
coupled with the assurance that deeds of sympathy awaited 
the command of the stricken. Only in America could 
$25,000,000 be contributed, and be at the command of a 
stricken community within seven days of the hour that 
brought disaster. This is the record of the American people 
in their swift reply to the cry of San Francisco for aid 

241 



M 2 san Francisco's great disaster. 

Within twenty-four hours after the news had gone 
forth that the Empire City of the Coast had been laid low 
by earthquake, there was not a community, from one end of 
the land to the other, in which every organized agency was 
not at work raising funds. In some crises American cities 
have valiantly decided to rely upon ther own resources to 
recover from disaster, but from the earliest reports of the 
probable extent of the disaster at* the Golden Gate, it was 
apparent that San Francisco would need the helping hand. 
The nation spontaneously formed the conviction that no 
American city could be left unaided to face a disaster that 
came perilously close to annihilation. It was a splendid 
tribute to the faith of any one American in all of the rest 
that nobody seriously entertained the idea that San Fran- 
cisco would not survive. And this attitude defied repeated 
assertions 'from apparently authoritative sources that the 
entire city was doomed. The generous outpouring of the 
millions never for a moment ceased. 

In the great sister cities the amounts contributed were, 
of course, larger. But the same spirit actuated the smallest 
township, and the multitude of little gifts went far toward 
swelling the grand total. New York's three milions repre- 
sents no more of the essential spirit of American fellowship 
and faith in the indomitable spirit of Americans than the. 
$300 from the little town of Massachusetts or Maryland, 
Kansas or Kentucky. The nation unconsciously reared to 
itself a splendid monument when its gifts in a mighty tor- 
rent were poured into the lap of San Francisco. 

The great National Government played its part. The 
Congress anoropriated first a single million and, as the 
great need became more apparent, swiftly increased that 
sum to $2,500,000. And this from a Congress which has 



san francisco's great disaster. 243 

established a record for keen and close oversight of expen- 
ditures. The expense to the Government, however, will far 
exceed this vast sum, so promptly and generously placed at 
the service of the stricken city. Federal buildings destroyed 
by the fire must be replaced, vast accumulations of stores 
of all kinds were destroyed and must be renewed. Before 
Congress had placed the relief fund at the service of the 
War Department both army and navy storehouses at San 
Francisco, which had not fallen prey to flames, had been 
placed at the service of the people. Government losses and 
contributions, in addition to the sum given by Congress, 
equalled the tremendous sum of $6,000,000, which the 
present or a subsequent Congress will be called upon to 
furnish. State legislatures, where they were in session, fol- 
lowed the lead of the national law making body. The New 
York legislature appropriated $400,000 and Massachusetts 
gave $250,000. But the subscriptions, in the main, came 
from the people. It would be useless to give the names of 
the organizations which shared in the work. The list would 
include every beneficial, trade, religious, charitable, com- 
mercial, financial, professional, educational, organization in 
America. It would name the public schools and institutions 
of learning from kindergarten to university, and the em- 
ployees of every class of firm, shop, factory, office, institu- 
tion, organized and unorganized. The President named 
the National Red Cross as his choice to receive general 
gifts while every newspaper in every town and city in the 
country became a headquarters for the receipt of contri- 
butions. Congregations of every religious denomination 
in the country made the offering a matter of special obli- 
gation. On the Sabbath following the earthquake, the 
people gathered in houses of worship, everywhere, heard 



244 san Francisco's great disaster. 

mention of the disaster and were exhorted to liberality. 
Aside from the millions given for any work of relief, there 
were thousands of special gifts to meet special needs. It 
would take a volume to give the details. 

A new form of national pride was born of the calamity. 
The President turned back a gift of $25,000 from a foreign 
firm, despite the fact that its business was in a measure 
American. The President believed that America could and 
would take care of its own. It amounted to the declara- 
tion of an ethical Monroe doctrine. But so highly devel- 
oped is the sentiment of the universal brotherhood that the 
President's act gave positive offense. Foreign peoples felt 
keenly that they were deprived from aiding fellow men, 
victims of disaster. That the President rightly interpreted 
the will and ability of his fellow countrymen was proved 
by subsequent events. The vast sums given by Americans 
alone, were equal to the vast need of San Francisco. When 
the rehabilitated city has arisen from the ashes of the old 
San Francisco, it will be a matter of pride that gratitude 
for timely help in the hour of trial belongs only to the 
American brotherhood. 

The total contributions, in round numbers equalled 
$20,000,000. New York led the list with gifts of $3,500,- 
000. Philadelphia added $900,000; Baltimore gave $150,- 
000; Washington, $1000,000; Chicago, $2,500.00, and 
thus throughout the country gold was poured into the lap 
of the city. Of the total of $2,500,000 appropriated by 
Congress, $1,800,000 was expended within two weeks in 
supplies of every kind and in the transportation of troops, 
2500 having ben added to the 3000 men from the Presidio. 
Contributions through the Red Cross, under the appeal 
made by the President, exceeded $3,000,000. The great 



\ \ > - ' ^*\ 1 ^ *Mi r l! SlJ ,' 




SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 247 

generosity of the nation made serious privation impossible. 
Chicago, on the occasion of the great fire of '71, received 
in relief contributions, $4,000,000 and under the wise ex- 
penditure of the citizens' relief committee, this sum was 
made to last for four years, during which time the refugees 
were absolutely safe from hardship. In San Francisco the 
number of homeless persons was twice as great as in Chi- 
cago. Nevertheless, the greatest sum available assured re- 
lief of a long enough time to rebuild a large percentage of 
the destroyed homes. 

The increase of the government's contribution from 
the original $1,000,000 to $2,500,000 was due to the un- 
tiring efforts of the President. No American sympathized 
with the stricken city more deeply than did the Chief Ex- 
ecutive of the nation and every possibility of his high of- 
fice was realized both in the extent of the relief accorded 
and the promptness with which the work of mercy was 
done. This is well indicated in the nature of the messages 
sent from the White House to Congress as need developed. 

The letter of Secretary Taft to the President recom- 
mended that Congress be requested to appropriate another 
$1,000,000 to enable the War Department to carry on the 
work of relief at San Francisco. 

Accompanying the Secretary's letter are reports from 
General Bell, chief of staff, Quartermaster General Hum- 
phrey, Commissary General Sharpe and Surgeon General 
O'Reilly, detailing just what has been done since. the first 
word came that a disaster had overtaken San Francisco. 
These reports also embrace a complete recapitulation of all 
telegrams sent and received. 



248 SAN &R AN CISCO'S GREAT DISASTER. 

SECRETARY TAFT'S LETTER. 

Secretary Taft's letter summarizing the situation is 
as follows: 

WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, 

April 21, 1906. 

My Dear Mr. President : — The situation in San Fran- 
cisco is such as to require an additional appropriation from 
Congress to meet the necessities of the people of that 
stricken city who are immediately in need of shelter and 
food. The War Department has rendered all the assist- 
ance possible, beginning its orders as soon as the first tele- 
gram was received from General Funston, about midnight 
of the 1 8th instant. Indeed, a telegram was sent by As- 
sistant Secretary Oliver to General Funston immediately 
upon the receipt of the news of the earthquake, on the 
morning of the 18th, directing him to render all assistance 
possible. 

From the night of the 18th of April all the available 
stores of the army of three departments have been used 
for relief purposes, assuming that the action of this depart- 
ment would be ratified by Congress in accordance with pre- 
cedent in similar cases. 

The memorandum of the general staff, which accom- 
panies this letter, shows the telegrams received from Gen- 
eral Funston, which gradually developed the extent of the 
terrible disaster, and increased the amount of supplies of 
every kind needed. 

All subsistence and quartermaster's supplies and all 
medical stores of every kind which were in the military 
depots in San Francisco were destroyed, except the local 
supplies for the troops stationed at the post of the Presidio 
at San Francisco. Accordingly, everyhing had to be or- 



san franciscc/s great disaster. 249 

dered from a distance. There are now on the way by spe- 
cial trains from every available and convenient point where 
they were stored 900,000 rations, which means the rations 
for 900,000 soldiers for one day. The value of these 
rations is estimated by the commissary general to be $198,- 
000. Two hundred thousand of these rations have prob- 
ably reached San Francisco this morning, in charge of 
commissary officers. 

The quartermaster's department have expressed by 
special train wall tents, conical tents, hospital tents and 
storage tents for the shelter of 100,000 people, 100,000 
blankets, 7,500 mattresses, 11,500 bed sacks and 8,000 
cots, part of which have already reached San Francisco 
from the immediate vicinity and all of which are hastening 
to the city by special trains, which have been given pre- 
cedence over passenger trains. 

The quartermaster's supplies already delivered in San 
Francisco or en route by special trains in charge of com- 
petent military quartermasters, amount in value to $1,031,- 
73440. 

The medical bureau of this department has sent five 
carloads of medical supplies from St. Louis by express in 
charge of competent medical officers and hospital stewards. 
The estimated value of these medical supplies is $50,000. 

It" is estimated that the cost of transportation for all 
these supplies amounts to $150,000, so that trie cost of that 
which has already been done in the matter of refief for San 
Francisco is $1,429,734.40. 

ASKS ANOTHER MILLION. 

"I have the honer to recommend that Congress be re- 
quested to appropriate $1,000,000 more, in order to meet 



250 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

the cost already incurred over and above the $1,000,000 
appropriated and to enable the War Department to pur- 
chase such additional supplies as may be needed for the 
purpose. 

"The present resolution authorizes the expenditure of 
money for the relief of San Francisco. The supplies which 
have been sent have been taken out of the regular army de- 
pots, and were necessary for the support and use of the 
army. I respectfully suggest, therefore, that in the next 
resolution, which I hope Congress may pass, specific au- 
thority be given to the Secretary of War to use both the 
$1,000,000 already appropriated and the amount which 
may be appropriated in the recommended resolution, either 
to purchase supplies for the relief of San Francisco, or to 
replace by purchase the supplies taken from the regular 
army stores for such relief purposes. 

"I enclose the form of resolution which will accom- 
plish the result sought. 

"I attach the memorandum of the chief of staff, the 
report of the quartermaster general and the report of the 
commissary general, and their accompanying telegrams ancl 
estimates. I also attach a memorandum from the surgeon 
general as to his operations and needs. 

"The loss of the valuable subsistence, quartermaster's 
and medical stores assembled in the depot at San Fran- 
cisco for use at the Pacific posts and in the Philippines 
will require a very considerable deficiency estimate, in order 
that they, in addition to the stores now being used for the 
relief of San Francisco, may be replaced. 

"The loss may be approximated as follows : Com- 
missary stores, $150,000; quartermaster's stores, $2,941,- 
472; medical stores, $357,391; total $3,448,863. 



SAN FRAT* CISCO'S GREAT DISASTER. 25 1 

'I shall submit estimates for these at a later date. 
"Very respectfully yours, 
"WM. H. TAFT, Secretary of War. 

The President." 



PRESIDENT LEADS WORK OF SUCCOR 

In her dark hours, San Francisco was accorded a 
memorable demonstration of the fact that mankind is a 
brotherhood. The cities of her own land, and the nations 
of the earth, so soon as the news of the tragedy had been 
flashed to them, thought only of aiding her, The last de- 
structive tremor had hardly left the earth before millions, 
everywhere, felt the need of reaching out the helping hand. 
As, hour by hour, the extent of the catastrophe became more 
and more appalling, men everywhere became more and 
more impressed with the duty of the hour, to succor. The 
swift action, taken in thousands of separate and remote cor- 
ners of the country, the subordination of every other cause 
to this, the wonderful response in every American com- 
munity to appeals that were answered before they were 
made, will ever remain a splendid monument to the great 
human hearts that beat in America breasts throughout the 
length and breadth of the land. 

In Hall of Congress the work of legislation was sus- 
pended in awe as the details of the dreadful visitation be- 
came known. The Congress, zealous of the purse strings 
of the treasury, niggardly in the opinion of many when 
clamor is made for appropriations, rose to the full stature of 
greatness when it swept aside every sentiment but to help 
the striken city to the full extent of its need. In less space 
of time than it takes to tell it, a million of dollars had been 
placed in the hands of government agencies to succor the 
homeless, to feed the hungry, to care for the injured, to 
do whatever the need of the hour demanded. The Presi- 
dent of the United States, quick in sympathy, vigorous in 
act, appealed to the whole nation to stand by San "Francisco. 

253 



254 san francisco's great disaster. 

rJeiore Congress or the President had acted, both the War 
Department and the Navy Department had thrown tor- 
iuous routine to the winds and soldiers of the regular army 
were playing a conspicuous part in quelling the lawless, 
guarding life and protecting property, as well as joining 
in the battle to check the conflagration. The hour demanded 
action ; humanity's call had been heard and obeyed even be- 
fore official Washington knew the extent of the catastrophe. 
When San Francisco rears some token of her gratitude the 
United States Army will be conspicuous among the agencies 
to be commemorated. And Brigadier General Frederick 
Funston, idol of the army, hero of the nation, will be her- 
alded as the man who could not wait for orders when fellow- 
men, stricken by two of nature's deadliest weapons, cried 
out for help. When, finally, authority of every formal kind 
had been showered upon the doughty soldier, there was 
nothing his great force could do, more than they had 
been doing for twenty-four hours. San Francisco will 
never forget Funston. 

In her pride the stricken city would gladly have refused 
outside aid, and, relying on her own valor and stamina, have 
undertaken, unaided, the appalling task of rising from cin- 
ders and debris, to be a new, and even a greater city. But 
the nation would not be denied. It was not in American 
hearts to stand by and see a struggle in which the odds 
were so uneven. It was a moment to prove that, while all 
mankind is a brotherhood, the American nation is a family 
whose ties are closer even than brother with brother. San 
Francisco could not have refused the proffered aid had she 
willed it. A thousand cities sent swift messages of sym- 
pathy, coupled with the request "What can we do?" Not 
one waited for the reply. They knew that hundreds of thou- 
sands would need shelter, would need food, would need re- 







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SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. ?S/ 

lief in a hundred forms that money, and only money in 
generous supply, could furnish. They set to work to get 
the money. 

American dollars have crossed the seas to Russia, to 
Ireland, to Italy, to Japan, to India, to Porto Rico, to any 
part of the earth where disaster has befallen. The sympa- 
thies of the nation are universal. No human cry has ever 
reached these shores and failed of speedy and generous an- 
swer. So also the cry has come from American cities. 
Stricken Chicago, stricken Boston, stricken Charleston, 
stricken Galveston, stricken Johnstown, stricken St. Louis, 
stricken Baltimore have all inspired generous inpulses in 
every corner of the Union. Some have demanded that they 
be allowed to face, single-handed, crisis from earthquake, 
fire or flood, and with pride in their valor the nation has 
said, "So be it." But no American city has known such a 
tremendous blow as that which fell upon San Francisco. 
Every city seemed to feel that left alone the Queen City 
of the Slope could, beyond doubt, rise triumphant. But not 
a city, not a citizen, could let such an unaided fight be 
waged. No American could enjoy peace and plenty when 
here were want and desolation. So granaries, store houses, 
treasure boxes, everywhere were poured out, and even be- 
fore San Francisco could rally her faculties to make answer 
to the inpouring queries, millions in money, tons of pro- 
visions, acres of canvas for shelter, physicians by the hun- 
dred, were speeding from every part of the continent. Thus 
some added horror in the holacaust of horror was prevented. 
Thus America, more than in any other mlanifestatioiii, 
proved herself in the van of civilization, for the blood of 
the nation fertilizes the hearts and brains from which spring 
spontaneously, the highest of human endowments, the quality 
of mercy, the impulse of succor. 



258 san francisco's great disaster. 

PRESIDENT MAKES APPEAL. 

To describe in detail all of the work of relief would fill 
many volumes exceeding the limitations of this. Some 
broad generalities must enter. The central fact, however, 
was the appeal of the President to the nation and the part 
the national government played in this work. President 
Roosevelt only hesitated long enough to decide upon the 
agency which he would name to receive the funds. When 
he had selected the National Red Cross as the best equipped 
for the great task his message was soon before the country. 
This was the memorable appeal : 

"In the face of so terrible and appalling a national 
calamity as that which has befallen San Francisco, the out- 
pouring of the nation's aid should, as far as possible, be in- 
trusted to the American Red Cross, the national organiza- 
tion best fitted to undertake such relief work. A specially 
appointed Red Cross agent, Dr. Edward Devine, starts to- 
day from New York to California, to co-operate there with 
the Red Cross branch in the work of relief. 

"In order that this work may be well systematized, and 
in order that the contributions, which I am sure will flow 
in with lavish generosity, may be wisely administered, I 
appeal to the people of the United States, to all cities, 
chambers of commerce, boards of trade, relief committees, 
and individuals to express their sympathy and render their 
aid by contributiins to the American National Red Cross. 
They can be sent to Jacob H. Scruff, New York, Red Cross 
treasurer, or other local Red Cross treasurers, to be for- 
warded by telegraph from Washington to the Red Cross 
agents and officers in California. 

"THEODORE ROOSEVELT." 



san Francisco's great disaster. 259 

The response was what could have been expected. 
San Francisco might have had many millions more had she 
not called a halt when the outpouring of funds had met her 
immediate needs. The millions that were placed at the 
disposal of the Red Cross absolutely assured her that there 
could be no famine and that many of the dreaded sequences 
of the disaster could not come. The greatest service to San 
Francisco, perhaps, on account of the vast sums available 
there was that the city officials and citzens had opportunity 
to devote effort and imagination toward grasping some- 
thing of the extent of the disaster and centering thought 
and attention on the broad problem of the rehabilitation of 
their city. They knew that the immediate needs were be- 
ing attended to through the generosity of the government, 
the good loyalty of fellow Americans and the efficiency 
of the Red Cross, and the Citizens' Committee and the 
army officers. It was a fairly blessed privilege to feel this. 
It will tell in the speed and thoroughness with which the 
city rises again in beauty and greatness. There can be 
no doubt that American cities had come to the rescue with- 
out the splendid action of the President. On the other 
hand there can be no doubt that this action quickened the 
work, gave it national scope and went down to the honor 
of the whole people. It also added another to the many 
reasons for which Theodore Roosevelt will be held in ven- 
eration by Americans as long as the Republic endures. 

CONGRESS GIVES TWO AND A HALF MILLIONS. 

As has been said, tRe Congress took action, even be- 
fore the appeal of the President had been made. The 
House of Representatives was first to act. On Wednes- 
day, April 18, this body adjourned as an expression of sor- 



260 SAN FRAN CIS CC/S GREAT DISASTER. 

row and sympathy for San Francisco after adopting reso- 
lutions authorizing the Secretaries of War and the Navy 
to place all available equipment at the service of the stricken 
city. Representative Kahn, of California, presented the 
resolution, which was as follows: 

"Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives of the United States of America, in Congress assem- 
bled, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, 
authorized and directed to loan to the mayors of San Fran- 
cisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda anH such other cities on 
the Pacific coast as have sustained damage, under such reg- 
ulations and restrictions as he may deem proper, a suffi- 
cient number of tents to temporarily shelter such persons 
as may have been rendered homeless and lost property by 
the earthquake of this date, and attending conflagration, 
and to issue rations, supplies and render such other aid to 
such as are destitute and unable to provide for themselves. 

"Be it further provided, That the Secretary of the 
Treasury and the Secretary of the Navy are also hereby 
directed to co-operate with the Secretary of War in ex- 
tending relief and assistance to the stricken people herein 
referred to to the extent of the use of the naval vessels, 
revenue cutters and supplies under their control on the 
Pacific coast." 

Coupled with this was a further act, indicative of the 
deep feeling which pervaded the House of Representatives 
as the result of the appalling news, which at this time only 
reached the nation's capital in fragmentary form. Mr. 
Gill, of Maryland, who offered the resolution of sympathy 
of the House to the people of Baltimore after the terrible 
conflagration which destroyed that city, presented the fol- 
lowing resolution: 



san francisco's great disaster. 261 

"Resolved, by the House of Representatives, That the 
sympathy of the House is hereby extended to the people 
of the State of California in this, the hour of their great 
disaster and suffering, caused by the extraordinary revolu- 
tion of nature in that State, and that as an expression of 
our profound sympathy we do now adjourn." 

By the following day the whole country had learned 
of the extent of the original disaster and was aware that 
the beautiful city was at the mercy of flames. In both the 
Senate and House of Representatives further steps were 
taken to show that the catastrophe to San Francisco was to 
be regarded as a national catastrophe. The Senate adopted 
a resolution, carrying an appropriation of $500,000, for 
relief. In the House of Representatives news of this ac- 
tion resulted in a substitute which doubled the sum that had 
been named by the Senate, and the next day by similar ac- 
tionj the million, likewise, was doubled by a second resolu- 
tion. The following resolution was unanimously adopted 
and stands as the part the Congress played in the patriotic 
effort made to help San Francisco : 
"Joint resolution for the relief of sufferers from earthquake 

and conflagration on the Pacific coast. 

"Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized and di- 
rected to procure in open market or otherwise subsistence 
and quartermaster supplies belonging to the military estab- 
lishment and available, and issue the same to such destitute 
persons as have been rendered homeless or are in needy cir- 
cumstances as a result of the earthquake which occurred 
April 18, and the attending conflagration, and in executing 
this joint resolution the Secretary of War is directed to co- 



262 san Francisco's great disaster. 

operate with the authorities of the State of California and 
the mayors of the cities of San Francisco, Berkeley, Oak- 
land, Alameda,and such other cities on the Pacific coast as 
may have sustained damages. 

"Be it further resolved, That the Secretary of the 
Treasury, Secretary of the Navy, and the Secretary of Com- 
merce and Labor are hereby directed to co-operate with the 
Secretary of War in extending relief and assistance to the 
stricken people herein referred to to the extent of the use of 
the naval vessels, revenue cutters, and other vessels and gov- 
ernment supplies under their control on the Pacific coast. 

"Be it further resolved, That to enable the Secretary of 
War to execute the provisions of this joint resolution there 
is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury 
not otherwise appropriated the sum of $1,000,000, to be 
expended under the direction and in the discretion of the 
Secretary of War." 

SHOCKED BY AWFUL NEWS. 

With millions of Americans the President was shocked 
beyond expression at the first reports of the disaster and 
hoped against hope that they would prove to have been 
exaggerated. 

His first message was to Mayor Eugene E. Schmitz, 
in which he said : — 

"Hear rumors of great disaster through an earthquake 
at San Francisco, but know nothing of the real facts. Call 
upon me for any assistance I can render. 

"THEODORE ROOSEVELT." 

Later in the day he sent this despatch to Mayor 
Schmitz : — 

"I share with all our people the horror felt at the 



san Francisco's great disaster. 263 

catastrophe that has befallen San Francisco, and the most 
earnest sympathy with your citizens. If there is anything 
that the Federal government can do to aid you it will be 
done." 

He also sent this message to Governor Pardee : — 

"It was difficult at first to credit the news of the ca- 
lamity that had befallen San Francisco. I feel the greatest 
concern and sympathy for you and the people, not only of 
San Francisco, but of California, in this terrible disaster. 
You will let me know if there is anything that the national 
government can do." 

Once the President had grasped the fact that the catas- 
trophe was real, he went to work for San Francisco with 
characteristic energy. Within twenty-four hours he had 
formulated an appeal to Congress, had issued the above 
appeal to the nation, had directed the National Red Cross 
to direct the rescue work, had named Secretary of Com- 
merce Metcalf to go to San Francisco as his personal rep- 
resentative, had inspired the War and Navy Departments 
to redoubled activity and in every act demonstrated a grasp 
of the situation, of the needs of the hour, all in keeping with 
what the nation has come to expect of one of the greatest 
of its executives. 

The original appropriation by Congress of $1,000,000, 
which, as has been recounted, was increased to $1,500,000, 
was swelled to the magnificent sum of $2,500,000 by a fur- 
ther action. The President's appeal went far toward setting 
the whole nation to raising money and to him some of the 
credit must be given for the amazing outpouring of gold, 
which, before it had stopped, had netted $20,000,000 for 
the work of relief. 



264 SAN FRANCISCO^ GREAT DISASTER. 

RELIEF MESSAGE TO CONGRESS. 

Of the several messages of the President, one sample 
may be given to show the sympathetic, yet calm business- 
like tone pervading them, eloquent of the man who is master 
of himself and the crisis confronting him : 
"To the Senate and House of Representatives: — 

"I submit herewith a letter of the Secretary of War, 
with accompanying documents, including a form of a res- 
olution suggested for passage by the Congress. 

"This letter refers to the appalling catastrophe which 
has befallen San Francisco and neighboring cities, a catas- 
trophe more appalling than any other of the kind that has 
befallen any other portion of our country during its history. 
I am sure that there is need on my part of no more than a 
suggestion to the Congress in order that this resolution may 
be at once passed. But I urge that instead of appropriating 
a further sum of $1,000,000, as recommended by the Secre- 
tary of War, the appropriation be for $1,500,000. The 
supplies already delivered or en route for San Francisco 
approximate in value $1,500,000, which is more than we 
have the authority in law as yet to purchase. I do not think 
it safe for us to reckon upon the need of spending less than 
a million in addition. 

"Large sums are being raised by private subscription in 
this country, and very generous offers have been made to 
assist us by individuals of other countries, which requests, 
however, I have refused, as in my judgment there is no need 
of any assistance from outside our own borders — this re- 
fusal, of course, in no way lessening our deep appreciation 
of the kindly sympathy which has prompted such offers. 

"The detailed account of the action of the War De- 
partment is contained in the appendices to the letter of the 




VIEW IN MARKET STREET, SAN FRANCISCO 



san Francisco's great disaster. 267 

Secretary of War. At the moment our concern is purely 
with meeting the terrible emergency of the moment. Later 
I shall communicate with you as to the generous part which 
I am sure the national government will take in meeting the 
more permanent needs of the situation, including, of course, 
rebuilding the great governmental structures which have 
been destroyed. 

"I hope the .action above requested can be taken to-day. 

"(Signed) THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 

"The White House, April 21, 1906." 

TRIBUTE TO SAN FRANCISCO. 

The President's first plan was to have the Red Cross 
in absolute control of the situation but it developed that no 
single agency could undertake the vast task, particularly as 
the contributions, being sent from thousands of sources, 
could not be turned into a single channel. The President 
had named Dr. E. T. Devine as special agent of the Red 
Cross. His arrival at San Francisco was followed by mis- 
understanding which threatened to embrace all concerned 
whereupon the President, grasping the fact that he had 
made a mistake, made this public announcement: 
"To the Public :— 

"When the news of the dreadful disaster at San Fran- 
cisco first came it was necessary to take immediate steps to 
provide in some way for the receipt and distribution of the 
sums of money which at once poured in for the relief of 
the people of San Francisco. At the moment no one could 
fortell how soon it would be possible for the people of San 
Francisco themselves to organize; and to tide over the in- 
terval the American National Red Cross Association was 
designated to receive and disburse the funds. But the peo- 



268 san francisco's great disaster. 

iple of San Francisco, with an energy and self-reliant 
courage, a cool resourcefulness and a capacity for organ- 
ized and ordely endeavor which are beyond all praise have 
already met the need through committees appointed by 
the mayor of the city, former Mayor James D. Phelan being 
chairman of the finance committee. The work of these com- 
mittees has been astonishing in its range, promptness and 
efficiency. 

"As I am informed by Major General Greely, although 
all local transportation was destroyed, as well as practically 
every supply store in the city, these local committees, with 
the help of the army, have succeeded in caring for three 
hundred thousand homeless people in the last five days. 
Thanks to their efforts, no individual is now suffering se- 
verely for food, water or temporary shelter. This work has 
been done with the minimum of waste and under conditions 
which would have appalled men less trained in business 
methods, endowed with less ability, or inspired with any 
but the highest motives of humanity and helpfulness. 

"The need of employing the Red Cross, save as an aux- 
iliary, has passed, and I urge that hereafter all contributions 
from any source be sent direct to James D. Phelan, chair- 
man Finance Committee, San Francisco. Mr. Devine, of 
the Red Cross, will disburse any contributions sent to him 
through former Mayor Phelan and will work in accord with 
him in all ways." 

This tactful action, coupled with its tribute to San 
Francisco, relieved the monetary tension and all thereafter 
went smoothly. The President throughout his action in 
the gravest hour that ever has confronted an American city 
added to the high esteem in which he is held, irrespective of 
political differences of opinion, from ocean to ocean. 



INSURANCE THE CITY'S SALVATION. 

San Francisco is rising from ashes through the faith 
and valor of her people, but much of the success of their 
efforts is to be traced to the enormous assistance which 
came from the millions poured into the city by the world's 
insurance companies. The principle of insuring valuables 
had its birth in a small risk, assumed exclusively against 
the lives of individuals. Probably no business venture, 
launched in the history of the world, provoked so great a 
storm of ridicule and abuse as this. It was attacked from 
the practical standpoint as an impossible undertaking; it 
was attacked from every possible worldly point of view, 
and the discussion, pro and con, finally, in some sections, 
became a matter of religious controversy. Its opponents 
found texts for their attacks in Holy Writ. The wonder 
is that the business of insuring had not died a borning. 
Despite the volcanic character of its reception the principle 
survived. Probably in all of the history of the develop- 
ment of enterprise there is no chapter to equal that which 
recounts the tremendous growth of this business. Its story 
is worth many volumes, devoted to the romantic aspects 
of the development with never a reference to figures. Per- 
haps, one day, a chronicler will rise, to embalm the story 
of a once derided, now a universally applied principle. 
Indeed it would take several volumes alone to describe the 
endless field now covered in insurance risks, too long to be 
even roughly treated here. Enough to say that the under- 
lying principle of insurance has been proved to be sound; 
that every man accepts the onetime ridiculed dogma that he 
can be made secure against loss by payment of a modest 
premium against the full extent of any possible calamity; 

269 



27O SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

and that this can be accomplished with a margin of profit 
for the insuring company, which has been the marvel and 
the envy of seekers of fortune in almost every other field. 

San Francisco, by dint of fire and earthquake, has 
heretofore learned the value of insurance. The present 
catastrophe has taught the lesson, once more, not only to 
San Francisco, but universally. The companies involved 
will, beyond doubt, get back their losses in the increased 
business that will accrue as a result of this appalling object 
lesson. They have done generously by the stricken city. 
From the moment that the tremendous extent of the disas- 
ter became apparent there was manifested this spirit. Few 
conflagrations have been complicated by the double work 
of destruction of fire and earthquake and this fact opened 
the way for endless technicalities. San Francisco was 
cheered, while the great fire was still sweeping through the 
city by the announcement that technicalities would be 
waived. The great companies which made this announce- 
ment are to be accounted among the notable factors in the 
rehabilitation. When San Francisco stands again, with the 
awful events of April, 1906, only memories a tremendous 
share of the credit will belong to these great business con- 
cerns, which put no quibble in the way of payment of losses, 
despite the fact that jointly tens of millions could have been 
saved to their treasuries. In the case of *ome of the com- 
panies involved, payment for damage by earthquake was 
preculded by the terms of their charters, on a basis of the 
standard fire insurance policy, which is that of New York. 
These companies, by accepting the havoc of the fire as final, 
without heeding the work of the earthquake, manifested 
a spirit of generosity in keeping with the attitude of the 
whole nation toward San Francisco in her hour of trial. 

Premiums paid on insurance in San Fancisco, in 1905, 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 2JI 

amounted to $2,986,540. On an estimated average rate 
of 70 cents this represented a total amount of insurance 
carried of $426,648,571. One^half less than this amount 
proved to be the amount of the liabilities, a total of $250.- 
000,000. Fortunately the insurance on the Pacific Coast 
is carried only in the large concerns. This fact proved to 
be important. 

The extent of the liabilities is represented in the follow- 
ing table, which gives the premiums paid by the insured of 
San Francisco for the year of the fire. The face value of 
the policies is readily obtainable on a basis of seventy cents 
as the average rate : 

CALIFORNIA COMPANIES. 

Net San 

Francisco 

Name of Company and Location. Premiums. 

California, San Francisco $22,585 

Fireman's Fund, San Francisco 77,608 

Home Fire and Marine, San Francisco 31 , 103 

Pacific Underwriters, San Francisco 20,632 

Total, California $151,928 

OTHER STATE COMPANIES. 

Aetna, Hartford $44789 

Agricultural, Watertown, N. Y 16,343 

Alliance, Philadelphia 15,801 

American, Boston 12,348 

American Fire, Philadelphia 2 7>559 

American, Newark 18,962 

American Central, St. Louis 19,881 

Atlanta-Birmingham Fire, Atlanta 6,289 

Austin Fire, Austin, Texas 4>337 



2^2 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

i 

British- American, New York 3,013 

Caledonian- American, New York 8,836 

Calumet, Chicago . . . . 13*824 

Citizens', St. Louis 17,588 

Colonial Fire Underwriters, Hartford 12,245 

Commercial Union Fire, New York 4,110 

Concordia Fire, Milwaukee 6,345 

Connecticut Fire, Hartford 34J97 

Continental, New York 33,936 

Delaware, Philadelphia , 12,551 

Dutchess, Poughkeepsie 14,167 

Eagle Fire, New York 1 1,968 

Equitable Fire and Marine, Providence 5,817 

Fire Association, Philadelphia 28,778 

Franklin Fire, Philadelphia 20,919 

German- American, New York . 44,589 

Germania Fire, New York 46,552 

German Alliance, New York 7,384 

German, Freeport, 111 52,802 

German Fire, Peoria, 111 x 4,75 2 

German National, Chicago 15,706 

Girard Fire and Marine, Philadelphia 1 3,747 

Glens Falls, Glens Falls, N. Y 15,483 

Globe & Rutgers, New York 16,028 

Hanover Fire, New York 23,167 

Hartford Fire, Hartford 72,236 

Home, New York 39,779 

Indemnity Fire, New York . . 4,781 

Insurance Company of North America, Philadel- 
phia .., 48,93 8 

Mercantile Fire and Marine, Boston 13,020 

Michigan Fire and Marine, Detroit 7,935 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 273 

Milwaukee Mechanics, Milwaukee 34,269 

Nassau Fire, New York 7,39 x 

National Fire, Hartford 30,201 

National Union, Pittsburg 20,936 

New Hampshire Fire, Manchester 8,928 

New York Underwriters, Hartford 73, 5 5 2 

New York Fire, New York 6,903 

Niagara Fire, New York 33,126 

Northwestern National, Milwaukee 11,039 

North German Fire, New York 1 1,627 

North River, New York 9,030 

Orient, Hartfod 14,373 

Pelican, New York 7,253 

Pennsylvania Fire, Philadelphia 55, ^9 

Phenix, Brooklyn 61,844 

Phoenix, Hartford 28,049 

Philadelphia Underwriters, Philadelphia 8,921 

Providence- Washington, Providence, R. L, .... 15,756 
Queen Insurance Company of America, New 

York 24,054 

Queen City Fire, Sioux Falls, S. D !,99 2 

Rochester German, Rochester, N. Y 10,701 

Security New Haven 6, 1 5 1 

Security Fire, Baltimore 7,817 

Springfield Fire and Marine, Springfield, Massa- 
chusetts 26,160 

Spring Garden, Philadelphia 9,5 19 

St. Paul Fire and Marine, St. Paul 18,705 

Teutonia, New Orleans 5,315 

Traders', Chicago 58,096 

Union, Philadelphia 8,729 

United Firemen's, Philadelphia 1 1,045 



274 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

Westchester Fire, New York I7>573 

Williamsburgh City Fire, Brooklyn 18,036 

Total Other-State $1,493,782 

Total American $1,645,710 

FOREIGN COMPANIES. 

Aachen & Munich Fire, Aix la Chapelle . 49 A 2 1 

Alliance Assurance, London 43,749 

Atlas Assurance, London 39>79 2 

Austrian Phoenix, Vienna 3°>558 

British America Assurance, Toronto I 3i333 

Caledonian, Edinburgh ,. 47>3 2 5 

Commercial Union Assurance, London 49,002 

Hamburg, Bremen Fire, Hamburg 56,180 

Law Union & Crown, London 28,030 

Liverpool and London and Globe, Liverpool ... 56,878 

London Assurance, London 87,719 

London and Lancashire Fire, Liverpool 68,558 

Manchester Assurance, London 5,639 

New Zealand, Auckland 29,299 

North British & Mercantile, London 44,569 

North German Fire, Hamburg 58,946 

Northern Assurance, London 53,690 

Norwich Union Fire, Norwich 3°,395 

Palatine, London 34, 2 °9 

Phcenix Assurance, London 53*830 

Prussian National, Stettin 1 7,934 

Rhine & Moselle, Strasburg 59,649 

Royal, Liverpooll 83,601 



san Francisco's great disaster. 277 

Royal Exchange Assurance, London 56,529 

Scotch Underwriters, Edinburgh 4,698 

Scottish Union & National, Edinburgh 21,916 

State Fire, Liverpool 15,491 

Sun Insurance Office, London 40,019 

Svea Fire, Gothenburg 2 5>955 

Transatlantic Fire, Hamburg 73>947 

Union Assurance Society, London 43,302 

Western Assurance, Toronto 17,458 

Total foreign $1,340,830 

Grand total for 1905, 105 companies $2,986,540 

SAN FRANCISCO LOSSES. 

The total loss was estimated at $250,000,000, and the 
loss to the insurance companies at $175,000,000. 

Below are presented the amounts the respective fire 
insurance companies estimated they would lose by the San 
Francisco conflagration, compiled from official statements 
by the companies: 

Net Amount 
of Loss. 

Aetna Insurance Co. of Hartford, Conn $2,700,000 

Agricultural Insurance Co. of Watertown, 

N. Y 500,000 

Alliance Insurance Co., of Philadelphia 500,000 

American Fire Insurance Co. of Philadelphia 500,000 

American Central Insurance Co. of St. Louis 500,000 

American Insurance Co. of Newark t, 000,000 

Atlanta-Birmingham Insurance Co. of At- 
lanta 150,000 



278 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 



Atlas Insurance Company of London 1,250,000 

Austin Fire Insurance Co. of Austin, Tex. . . 359,000 

British America Assurance Co. of Toronto . . 275,000 

British American Insurance Co. of New York 75,ooo 

Caledonian Insurance Co. of Scotland 1,193,482 

Caledonian-American Insurance Co. of New 

York 50,000 

Camden Fire Insurance Co. of Camden, 

N. J 360,000 

Citizens' Insurance Co. of St. Louis 165,000 

Colonial Assurance Co. of New York 10,000 

Commonwealth Insurance Co. of New York 39,000 

Continental Insurance Co. of New York .... 1,926,000 

Concordia Fire Insurance Co. of Milwaukee . 200,000 

Delaware Insurance Co. of Dover 8,000 

Delaware Insurance Co. of Philadelphia .... 350,000 

Dutchess Insurance Company of Poughkeepsie 175,000 

Eagle Fire Insurance Co. of New York 300,000 

Empire City Fire Insurance Co. of New York 40,000 

Equity Fire Insurance Co. of Toronto 7>5°° 

Europa Insurance Co. of Berlin 3,000 

Federal Lloyds of Chicago I5>5°° 

Fire Association of Philadelphia 1,100,000 

Franklin Fire Insurance Co. of Philadelphia 800,000 

German Alliance Insurance Co. of New York 225,000 

Germania Fire Insurance Co. of New York . . 2,000,000 

German Insurance Co. of Freeport, 111 ..... 1,500,000 

German- American of New York 2,000,000 

Girard Fire & Marine Insurance Co. of Phila- 
delphia 450,000 

Glens Falls Insurance Co. of Glens Falls, 

N. Y 1,000,000 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 279 

Globe & Rutgers Insurance Co. of New York 450,000 

Hamburg-Bremen of Hamburg, Germany . . 1,100,000 

Hanover Insurance Co. of New York 700,000 

Hartford Fire Insurance Co. of Hartford, 

Conn 5,750,000 

Home Insurance Co. of New York 1,500,000 

Insurance Co. of North America 2,000,000 

Insurance Co. of State of Pennsylvania .... 8,250 

Indemnity Fire Insurance Co. of New York 85,000 
Independent Cash Mutual Fire Ins. Co. of 

Toronto 1,500 

Indianapolis' Insurance Co. of Indianapolis . . 25,000 
Individual Underwriters' Association (John 

R. Waters) 214,625 

Individual Fire Underwriters of St. Louis . . 25,000 

Jefferson Fire Insurance Co. of Philadelphia 20,000 

La Confiance Insurance Co. of Paris 2,000 

La Metropole Insurance Co. of Paris 5,000 

La National Insurance Co. of Paris 3,5°° 

La Paternelle Insurance Co. of Paris 7,000 

La Polar of Bilboa, Spain 3,5°° 

Le Soleil Insurance Co. of Paris 3,000 

London Assurance Corporation of London . . 3,750,000 
London & Lancashire Insurance Co. of Liver- 
pool 3,500,000 

L'Union Insurance Co. of Paris 6,500 

L'Urbaine Insurance Co. of Paris 3,5°° 

Liverpool & London & Globe Ins. Co. of Liver- 
pool, Eng 3,500,000 

Louisville Insurance Co. of Louisville, Ky. . . 18,600 
Michigan Fire & Marine Insurance Co. of De- 
troit, Mich 200,000 



280 san Francisco's great disaster. 

National Insurance Co. of Hartford, Conn. . . 1,500,000 
National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pitts- 
burg 750,000 

New Brunswick Fire Ins. Co. of New Bruns- 
wick, N. J 25,000 

New Hampshire Fire Insurance Co. of Man- 
chester, N. H 600,000 

New York Insurance Association 2,000 

New York Fire Insurance Company 200,000 

Niagara Insurance Co. of New York 1,000,000 

North German Insurance Co. of New York . . 160,000 
North River Insurance Co. of New York . . . 

Northern Assurance Co. of London 2,000,000 

Northwestern National Ins. Co. of Milwaukee 300,000 
Norwich Union Fire Insurance Society of 

England 1,200,000 

Orient Insurance Co. of Hartford, Conn. . . . 700,000 

Pacific Insurance Co. of New York 30,000 

Pelican Insurance Co. of New York 250,000 

Peter Cooper Fire Insurance Co. of New York 3 5, 000 

Phenix Insurance Co. of Brooklyn 1,500,000 

Phcenix Assurance Co. of London 1,600,000 

Phoenix Insurance Co. of Hartford 1,110,000 

Providence-Washington Insurance Co. of 

Providence 600,000 

Queen City Fire Insurance Co. of Sioux Falls, 

Iowa 100,000 

Queen Insurance Co. of America of New 

York 1,250,000 

Rochester German Insurance Co. of Rochester 700,000 

Royal Exchange Assurance of London 2,750,000 

Royal Insurance Co. of Liverpool, Eng 3,750,000 



SAN FRANCISCO* S GREAT DISASTER. 28 1 

Scottish Union & National Ins. Co. of Edin- 
burgh 1,00,000 

Security of New Haven 300,000 

Springfield Fire & Marine Ins. Co. of Spring- 
field Mass 1,676,455 

Standard of Amsterdam 3.«5 00 

Stuyvesant Insurance Co. of New York .... 102,000 

St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co 1,000,000 

Spring Garden Insurance Co. of Philadelphia 250,000 

Sun Insurance Office of London, Eng 1,200,000 

Teutonia Insurance Co. of New Orleans .... 40,000 
Union Insurance Company of Philadelphia . . 129,000 
United Firemen's Insurance Co. of Philadel- 
phia 200,000 

Virginia State Insurance Co. of Richmond, 

Va 7,000 

Western Assurance Co. of Toronto 400,000 

Weschester Insurance Co. of New York .... 600,000 
Williamsburgh City Insurance Co. of New 

York 500,000 



SCHMITZ AND FUNSTON, SAN FRANCISCO 

HEROES. 

Among the heroes who will go down to fame for the 
part they played in the struggle to save San Francisco none 
will rival Brigadier General Frederick Funston, U. S. A., 
commanding the Department of California. The name of 
Funston is a household word in America. He is perhaps the 
most picturesque soldier of fortune alive to-day. His mili- 
tary exploits had made him famous before he ever wore the 
uniform of an officer in the regular army. Cuba will always 
remember him, and in the brilliant roster of those who 
joined the volunteer hosts on the outbreak of the Spanish- 
American War no name conjures more memories of gallant 
deeds than his. The struggle for liberty waged by the 
people of the Pearl of the Antilles appealed strongly to this 
native of Ohio, resident of everywhere, lover of Kansas. 
His military record opened, then, in Cuba, where Funston, 
as chief of artillery for the insurgents repeatedly struck ter- 
ror to the Spanish foe by daring work with his guns. 
Loyally he struggled in behalf of Cuba and with joy he re- 
ceived the news that, after long procrastination, the Ameri- 
can Republic, stung to action by the destruction of the 
Maine, had declared war on the Spanish oppressor. Funston 
may next be found speeding back to the States and soon 
after he became Colonel of the 20th Kansas Volunteers, and 
was shortly on the way to the Philippines. Funston had, in 
this 20th Kansas, a regiment that wanted fighting. It was 
well the regiment was of this type, for its commander kept 
it busy. The long Philippine campaign offered compara- 
tively few opportunities for brilliant feats. It offered none 
to the commander who sat and waited for his chance. Fun- 

.283 



284 san francisco's great disaster. 

ston made them, made them so fast that his Kansans came 
to believe that there wouldn't a man of them ever see Kan- 
sas again. 

Training in the guerrilla warfare in which he had par- 
ticipated in Cuba fitted Funston for the peculiar nature of 
the work which fell to the lot of the soldier in the Philip- 
pines. It demanded bravery and powers of initiative, of in- 
genuity and resourcefulness, far beyond anything that pos- 
sibly could be instilled in West Point class rooms. He and 
his Kansans swept through the brush of whatever district 
they were called upon to pacify and when they were through 
the native population was either pacified or dead. It was 
drastic work, but in the end it proved to be the only kind 
that brought results. Its effectiveness attracted attention to 
the man who led the Kansas fireaters. His name passed 
from lip to lip, as the sort of man Americans were proud of. 
He measured up to the national idea of the soldier. Feat 
after feat was heralded and it got to be a matter of routine 
to put the name of Funston in the front rank of the names 
to be mentioned. After a year of service Colonel Funston 
became Brigadier General Funston, and when two more 
years had rolled around, amid popular acclaim the brigadier 
of volunteers became a brigadier general of the regular 
establishment, and a medal of honor from Congress graced 
his breast. 

This followed the most brilliant feat of the entire Phil- 
ippine campaign, the capture by Funston of Aguinaldo, an 
achievement which speedily brought to an end the stubborn 
resistance of a section of the native population to American 
rule. All America rang with the tale of the daring scheme 
which resulted in the undoing of the arch rebel. If the 
nation had, long before, developed a suspicion that Funston 



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^■■■l^MB^P ■^■■"^ ^^SHHi 







san francisco's great disaster. 287 

was of America's favorite type of soldier that suspicion 
now became crystalizecl into certain knowledge, and Funs- 
ton's welcome home was only second to that accorded to 
Dewey, the hero of Manila Bay. 

A feature of General Funston's conduct throughout 
the ordeal at San Francisco was his coolness. This was 
to have been expected of a man who had dug for gold in 
the Klondyke and faced arctic perils there; had fought 
Spaniards in Cuba and faced tropical menaces, who had 
fought his way to the forefront of American soldiers in 
Philippine campaigns. But it is not always the expected 
which happens and Funston's calm, methodical methods in 
facing the appalling state of affairs which developed as the 
San Francisco tragedy grew in extent, must be placed to 
his especial credit. His messages to the War Department 
were eloquent of his self-possession. In the first of them 
he announced that he had ordered his troops into the city 
to fight the fire and to protect what had been left un- 
burned. "I will count on receiving necessary authority" 
he announced at the close of this memorable message. 
Here is a sample of his advices to Washington, indicating 
in every sentence a thorough grasp of the situation and a 
power to deal in facts in the midst of an atmosphere 
charged with terror and hysteria : 

"Fire is making no progress to the west from Van 
Ness avenue. West wind of considerable force now begin- 
ning. Indications now that all that part of the city south 
of Van Ness avenue and north of the bay will be destroyed. 
Some considerable apprehension is felt as to the post at 
Fort Mason, but it is believed that we can save it. Weather 
continues fine and warm; practically no suffering from 
cold. It will be impossible to at once establish oroper sani- 



288 san francisco's great disaster. 

tary conditions. Much sickness must necessarily be ex- 
pected. If the city to the west now standing remains intact 
there are a good many buildings that can be used as hospi- 
tals. The water supply is encouraging. The Spring Val- 
ley water people believe they can deliver from ten K) 
twelve million gallons daily. This, with other sources not 
mentioned, will prevent a water famine." 

It was General Funston who appreciated the need of 
sanitary precautions in the refuge camps and ordered the 
army engineers to see that these were taken; it was Funs- 
ton who stripped the army storehouses of food supplies and 
systematized their distribution to thousands of hungry vic- 
tims of the disaster; it was Funston who called for tents 
and prompted the War Department to order every stitch 
of canvas it owned to San Francisco; it was Funston who 
inspired the organization of citzens' relief committees, mer- 
chants' committees and other factors in meeting the needs 
of the hour and planning to meet the needs to develop. 
His far seeing eye missed no detail of present or future. 
Thus it was that General Greely, his superior, when called 
back from the wedding of his daughter, could only report, 
after going over the situation, that the methods devised 
and adopted under the direction of Funston, would be 
continued. 

TROUBLE MONGERS. 

Trouble mongers, unable to believe that federal and 
municipal authorities could harmoniously work together, 
started a canard that there had been a disagreement be- 
tween General Funston and Mayor Schmitz. The stories 
only served to bring out testimonials to the great work of 
the little fighter from Kansas. Funston in denying the 
fabrications said: ~ — - ~ 



san francisco's great disaster. 289 

"Mayor Schmitz and myself have been working to- 
gether in the unity of doing great work, and we are helping 
to the extent of our ability and apparently to the satisfac- 
tion of every friend of the community all unfortunate 
people of the city." 

Then came the declaration of the Mayor. He said: 

"Report of conflict between Gen. Funston and myself 
absolutely without foundation. We are not only without 
difference, but are co-operating in the utmost friendship 
and harmony. Gen. Funston's excellent work, his good 
judgment, and his zeal in our cause by day and by night 
are appreciated by the people of San Francisco in this hour 
of great distress. The army and nation are to be congratu- 
lated on the possession of such officers as Gen. Funston." 

And the more he thought of the outrage that had been 
done to Funston the more his blood boiled. Just to ease 
the tension he fired off this supplemental message to 
Washington : 

"Supplementing my telegram of yesterday, I wish 
again, even in the midst of our great troubles, to express 
my indignation at the remarkable, malicious, and decidedly 
untruthful suggestion that a conflict exists between Gen. 
Funston and myself. I wish to emphasize the pleasantness 
an.d harmony of our relations and co-operation." 

In brief, no praise that might be bestowed on the 
Hero of San Francisco could be overgenerous. He will 
never be forgotten in the City by the Golden Gate. 

Frederick Funston was born in Ohio, November 9, 
1865. The family moved to Kansas two years later and 
that state very justly claims the fighter as her son. The 
future brigadier was educated in high school and univer- 
sity in his home state. In 1890, he became a reporter on 



290 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

a newspaper in Kansas City and a year later went as a 
botanist with the United States Death Valley Expedition. 
This taste of roughing it had much to do with succeeding 
events in his career. Under a commission from the De- 
partment of Agriculture he next explored Alaska and pre- 
pared an exhaustive report on its flora. In the winter of 
1893-4 he camped in the frozen wastes of the Klondyke. 
When navigation opened he made a perilous trip down the 
Yukon, alone in an open canoe. Two years later he was 
in Cuba, a member of the Cuban insurgent army. He rev- 
olutionized the tactics of the brush fighters and taught 
them what even a limited amount of second rate artillery 
could accomplish in harassing the Spaniards. He made 
a reputation for calmness and bravery in the face of all the 
hardships and dangers of guerilla warfare and was a tower 
of strength to the Cuban cause in the dark hours of the 
long fight for freedom which preceded the dawn. After 
Funston had served eighteen months as an insurgent the 
Maine was destroyed in the harbor of Havana and then 
there was a different story. The United States declared 
war and Funston, despite a serious wound, rushed back 
to Kansas, and as has been told, was soon commissioned 
colonel of the Twentieth Kansas Infantry. In the Philip- 
pines they dubbed the stubby, red-headed fighter, "Lucky 
Funston." It turned out that wherever something was 
afoot, there was Funston and his Twentieth Kansas. The 
climax came at Calumpit, on the Rio Grande River. Op- 
posite Funston and his Kansans the natives had built a 
strong line of works commanding the only available bridge- 
It meant annihilation to try to cross in the fece of the fire 
that could be concentrated on the narrow,, flimsy struc- 
ture. The Kansans had to find another my.. Furxslon 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 29 1 

hit upon the plan of rafting a flanking force across the Rio 
Grande. To get the raft across a tow rope managed from 
the other side was necessary. Volunteers were called for 
and two responded, for in the Twentieth Kansas what 
Funston wanted was law. The sharpshooters were called 
from the ranks and lined out along the near bank to pro- 
tect the swimmers who were to undertake the tremendous 
task of carrying a rope across the swift, wide stream, in the 
face of the fire from the native breastwork. The sharp- 
shooters went to work with a will and a storm of steel 
swept every inch of the far bank. It was death for a Fili- 
pino to show his head. This kept up until the swimmers 
had reached the far bank. Then the firing ceased and the 
Kansans dashed ashore and actually fastened their tow line 
to one of the heavy bamboo supports for the enemy's 
covert. The raft was soon under way, Funston among the 
first score of his men to cross the river. Very soon a half 
hundred men were available, the native works were 
stormed and in less time than it takes to tell it the whole 
position had been taken. The feat made Funston famous 
and on the strength of it he was promoted, May 2, 1899, 
to be a brigadier general. 

But Funston's greatest service to the cause of law and 
order in the Philippines was yet to come. As long as the 
rebel leader Aguinaldo was at large to inspire native bands 
to continue an utterly hopeless warfare there could be little 
accomplished toward final pacification of the islands. 
Funston set himself the task of capturing the arch rebel. 
"Funston luck" threw into his hands a messenger from the 
Aguinaldo camp, who was on the way to secure reinforce- 
ments. Funston's fertile brain evolved a daring scheme 
which meant doom to the participants in case of failure. 



2g2 . SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTEk. 

This was to have United States soldiers impersonate the 
expected reinforcements, thus enter the rebel stronghold 
and seize whomever might be found there. The military 
authorities assented to the proposition and a volunteer 
party was organized. The messenger was bought over and 
led the party to Aguinaldo's hiding place. The long peri- 
lous march was made in safety and finally the trick was 
turned. Aguinaldo, with a number of his lieutenants was 
captured. This was the turning point in the history of the 
American control of the islands, and Funston it was who. 
"turned the trick." 

Since this exploit the Kansan had gone on tending to 
the soldier's business. True to his predilection for being 
"on the spot" the San Francisco tragedy found him com- 
mander of the Department of California with headquarters 
in the stricken city. True to his record he once more 
"turned the trick" and Mayor Schmitz only expressed the 
opinion of 450,000 other residents of the city when he said: 
"The army and nation are to be congratulated on the pos- 
session of such officers as General Funston." 

MAYOR SCHMITZ SHARES LAURELS. 

On one other man the blow to the western metropolis 
fell with especial weight. The manner in which he bore the 
burden, preserved order, organized relief measures, cheered 
the citizens, gave the country assurance that the city would 
be rebuilt better than before and worked night and day co 
do the thousand and one things that the situation de- 
manded — in a word, the way he made himself equal to a 
great occasion — attracted favorable comment the country 
over. This man is Mayor Eugene F. Schmitz. He is a na- 
tive of the Golden Gate City and, though only a little past 



san francisco's great disaster. 293 

forty was serving his third term as head of its government. 
One thing that made his position unique was that he was 
elected without the help of either the regular party organi- 
zations, being the candidate of the Union Labor forces. 
When he was first nominated in 1901, scarcely anybody be- 
lieved that he had a ghost of a show. Yet he was successful 
by an overwhelming plurality. Another notable thing about 
Mayor Schmitz is that he is the son of a German father and 
an Irish mother, a combination, by the way, that has given 
the country some of its strongest men. Mr. Schmitz, like 
his father, is a musician, having been at one time director 
of the orchestra at the Columbia theatre. He was also 
president of the Musicians' union of San Francisco. His 
fairness as an employer and his ability as a speaker made 
him popular with the labor forces and when they decided 
to run an independent ticket they turned to him as their 
leader. It was the teamsters' strike and the brutal man- 
ner in which the men were handled by the city authorities 
that decided the workingmen to go into politics and solidi- 
fied them so that they have carried San Francisco ever 
since. 

AN ACCOMPLISHED VIOLINIST. 

Mayor Schmitz is tall and athletic in appearance and 
of a bearing that would make him a marked man anywhere. 
He is an accomplished violinist. At the time of the strike 
of the anthracite miners Mayor Schmitz was instrumental 
in having a musical entertainment held to raise funds for 
their support. He directed the orchestra and played a 
violin solo. The sum of over $3,000 was raised. 

Schmitz's vocation as a violinist caused one very dis- 
mal prediction to be made when he was first a candidate. 



294 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

A lawyer in a speech against the labor candidate referred 
to the fact that Nero fiddled while Rome burned and 
added : 

"If Schmitz is elected he will be fiddling when San 
Francisco is in ruins." 

The record of the Mayor belies the prophesy. 

The story is told with gusto by San Franciscans that 
Schmitz's sister-in-law was once a servant. When Gene 
was elected she gave notice to her mistress that she was 
going to live with her brother-in-law, the mayor, and in- 
vited the scandalized woman to call on her. San Francisco 
is too democratic a community to mind a little thing like 
that. Too many of its bonanza kings and high society 
people came from the proletariat themselves to let such an 
episode disturb them. They regard it only as a good joke, 
which indeed it is. 

Mayor Schmitz himself is a finely educated man, hav- 
ing studied medicine for two years, but deciding not to 
enter the practice because of ill health. It was this which 
caused him to go into training as an athlete. It also de- 
cided him to go to the Klondyke, though at a later period, 
and with this is connected a story that he often tells. 

The miners at Dawson got up many vaudeville enter- 
tainments with such talent as the place afforded, and 
Schmitz was asked to play for them. Disguising himself 
as a tramp, he complied. At first, of course, he could only 
get discords out of the violin. When he had an audience 
snickering properly at his amateur performance he reeled 
off a cadenza that brought the orchestra leader open 
mouthed up over the footlights and set the audience gasp- 
ing. He followed this with his own variations on "II Trov- 
atore," which caused those present figuratively to tear the 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 297 

house down. After being encored innumerable times he 
was offered $25 a night to play first violin in the orchestra. 
Afterward the story got out that the supposed tramp was 
really the director of one of the leading orchestras of San 
Francisco who was in the Klondike on a vacation. 

During this same trip Schmitz also became a steam- 
boat captain, successfully navigating a boat several trips 
up and down the Yukon river. 

In the crisis at San Francisco Mayor Schmitz proved 
himself prompt and energetic. His orders to shoot all per- 
sons found looting, to confiscate the property of those 
dealers charging outrageous prices, his drafting of every 
able-bodied citizen to fight fire and perform other manual 
labor and the other rigorous measures adopted did much 
toward preserving quiet and order during this worst calam- 
ity that ever befell an American city. His telegrams sent 
all over the country asking for bedding, tents and food and 
the efficient manner in which he provided for the distribu- 
tion of all supplies averted the danger of famine. It took 
quite as prompt measures to provide against pestilence 
because of the large number of dead in the ruins and about 
the streets. Before the fire was out he sent out reassuring 
proclamations to the citizens, and no sooner was he told 
that the flames were under control than he was talking of 
a new and greater San Francisco to arise on the ashes of 
the old. All this sounds easy, but when one is worn out by 
three days' incessant labor, with three-fourths of the city, 
for whose welfare he is responsible, in ruins, it is not as 
easy as it seems. 



REBUILDING SAN FRANCISCO. 

With the pall of smoke still enshrouding the devastated 
city, gallant San Franciscans began the work of rehabili- 
tation. Mayor Schmitz, in the midst of the terrors of the 
conflagration, sent abroad the brave message that a new 
and greater city would rise speedily to take the place of the 
old. That prophecy is already on the way to realization. 
It is a giant task. The city must almost be built from the 
very foundations upward. Tremendous expense falls upon 
the national government, the State government, the city gov- 
ernment and hundreds of home and foreign business con- 
cerns, as well as upon thousands who had owned homes. 
Congress has provided for federal structures worthy of the 
city; a special session of the legislature has given freely of 
the funds of the States to supply housing for its agencies 
of government and has empowered the city to secure the 
million necessary in replacing and repairing the scores of 
schools and other public structures which were reduced to 
ashes. The task is a gigantic one. It may take ten years, 
it may take twenty years. But San Francisco has gone 
bravely to work and it can be taken for granted that the 
time consumed will be the minimum time in which it is 
possible to undo the joint work of earthquake and conflag- 
ration. 

The natural advantages of San Francisco, including 
a matchless harbor, it was said, made it, and would make it 
for all time the metropolis of the West. The fact that the 
depth of the water only on the San Francisco side of the 
bay was ample for large vessels would prevent commerce of 
the port leaving the city. The necessities of commerce and 
traffic compel the rebuilding of the city. 

299 



300 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

THE CROCKER LOSSES. 

W. H. Crocker, of San Francisco, who, with his elder 
brother, George, directs most of the Crocker estate, placed 
the total losses of the family through fire and earthquake 
at $7,500,000. The insurance is merely nominal, he said, 
and will not begin to cover the loss. 

"Mark my words," he said, "San Francisco will arise 
from these ashes a greater and more beautiful city than ever. 
I don't take any stock in the belief of some people that in- 
vestors and residents will be panicky and afraid to build 
up again. This calamity, terrible as it is, will mean nothing 
less than a new and grander San Francisco. 

"It is preposterous to suggest the abandonment of the 
city. It is the natural metropolis of the Pacific Coast. God 
made it so. D. O. Mills, the Spreckels family, everybody I 
know, have determined to rebuild and to invest more than 
ever before. Burnham, the great Chicago architect, has 
been at work for a year or more on plans to beautify San 
Francisco. Terrible as this destruction has been, it serves 
to clear the way for the carrying out of these plans. Why, 
even now we are figuring on rebuilding. 

"More than that, I am confident that, except for what 
fire has absolutely laid waste, it will be found that the build- 
ings are less injured than was supposed. Plastering, orna- 
mental work, glass and more or less loose material has been 
shaken down, but the framework, I am sure, will be found 
intact in many big buildings." 

TO GO UP LIKE BALTIMORE. 

D. O. Mills was equally emphatic about the rebuilding 
of the stricken city. He said : 



san Francisco's great disaster. 301 

"We will go ahead and build the city and build it so 
that earthquakes will not shake it down and so fire will not 
destroy it, and we will have a water system which will enable 
us to draw water from the sea for fire extinguishing ser- 
vice and other municipal purposes. We will thus have less 
to fear from the destruction of the land mains. 

"The whole point with all of us who own property 
down there is that we have to build. To let it lie idle, piled 
with its ruins, would mean the throwing away of money, 
and I am sure none of us intend to do that. The city will 
go up like Baltimore did, and Galveston, and Charleston, 
and Chicago, and there will be no lack of capital. Califor- 
nia spirit and California enterprise, which are always 
associated with the State of California, will rise superior 
to this calamity." 

In the rebuilding of San Francisco it is probable that 
an effort will be made to lay out the new city on different 
lines, so that the new structures for the business district 
may be provided with good foundations, such as could not 
be obtained within the area of the made ground formerly 
occupied by the business section. 

D. Ogden Mills, Colonel Dudley Evans, President of 
Wells, Fargo & Co. ; Archer M. Huntington, Isaac Guggen- 
heim, who lost heavily in the destruction of San Francisco, 
all expressed their conviction that the city would recuperate 
from this disaster and rise from the ruins more beautiful 
and more prosperous than ever. 

If the ideas of Colonel Evans, an old-time Californian, 
in the matter of building the city come to pass, the interest- 
ing fact will obtain that the disaster has shaken the places 
of the rich into the places of the poor, and vice versa. Col- 
Evans says that in building the new city the business section 



302 san francisco's great disaster. 



should be laid out south of Market street, where the poor 
have lived. There is a better foundation to be had there. 

"You may say for me, that San Francisco will rise 
Phoenix-like from the ashes of her ruins. The present 
generation is imbued with the spirit of courage exhibited 
by their forefathers in their sturdy fight during the pioneer 
days of '49. 

"In my opinion, San Francisco in a few years will be a 
greater and grander city than it ever was before. I do 
hope, however, that there will be some method arranged to 
keep the merchants from building on that dangerous spot 
of made ground. 

"There the damage is always greatest, because, there 
is no foundation, practically, for the immense buildings 
erected there necessary for the wholesale purposes. It is 
quite probable, though, that with the knowledge of the 
danger to be incurred by building there, the merchants will 
shun that portion of town and reconstruct on solid ground 
formerly known as Tar Flat, south of Market street, where 
the poorer classes have heretofore lived." 

"All talk of abandoning the city for some such place 
as Seattle is foolish," said Archer M. Huntington, whose 
San Francisco residence containing many valuable paint- 
ings was destroyed. "San Francisco is the logical me- 
tropolis west of the Rockies. The city will be rebuilt at 
once, and it will be an improved city." 

As to rebuilding our own residence there no plans 
have been formulated. Nothing will be done in that di- 
rection for some time at all events. 

SHOWS FAITH IN CITY. 

Isaac Guggenheim of M. Guggenheim's Sons showed 



303 



that his confidence of a new San Francisco is of a practical 
sort when he announced that orders had been issued to 
proceed as soon as possible with the construction of a ne»v 
smelting plant planned recently for the city. 

"We have every confidence in the city's recuperative 
power," he said. "Our losses have been fairly large, but 
so trifling in the face of the larger losses that I decline to 
discuss them." 

Engineers and contractors are already sending repre- 
sentatives to the ruined city, where the results architec- 
turally will be studied. The reports of these experts will 
have a great deal to do with the constructing business of 
the future. The George H. Fuller Company and the 
Thompson-Starrett Company have already started their 
men. 

Theodore Starrett, President of the Thompson-Star- 
rett Company, called attention to the fact that the San 
Francisco Chronicle Building passed safely through the 
earthquake, although it was subsequently destroyed by fire. 
Mr. Starrett nearly twenty years ago, wlien the Chroni- 
cle Building was put up, was the engineer for the firm of 
architects in charge of the job. 

"When that building was put up," said Mr. Starrett, 
"the earthquake of 1873 was still fairly fresh in the minds 
of San Franciscans, and while the structure was not of the 
modern steel skeleton type, it contained one structural 
feature which, I am confident, saved it so far as the jarring 
of the earth was concerned. 

"At every floor level and in some instances between 
floor levels there were imbedded in the outer walls courses 
of rails and I beams, extending entirely around the building 
an :! giving it greatly increased stability. 

"The steel frame of The Call Building stood up in 



304 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

good shape and The Chronicle Building was all right until 
the fire reached it, so that, so far as an earthquake is con- 
cerned, a union of these two types of buildings — that is, a 
steel frame with reinforced walls — should afford effective 
resistance." 

Architect Francis H. Kimball, said: 

"It seems to me that the foundations of many of our 
buildings carried down by caissons to bedrock, would af- 
ford considerably greater security against any disturbances 
of the earth than could be had in structures supported by 
one means or another on a comparatively soft bottom. 

"The modern steel skyscraper is no such fragile crea- 
ture as most people imagine. Properly built, it is practi- 
cally a unit, or a series of units bound together." 

A QUESTION TO BE DECIDED. 

There is one point in connection with the San Fran- 
cisco disaster, to be brought out in the later investigation 
of its results, that will be of interest to architects and 
builders. That is whether the steel frame buildings which 
have withstood the shock have not been thrown out of 
plumb. 

THE PEOPLE HOPEFUL. 

That the spirit of the city is not broken is shown by 
the talk of prominent men. 

Ex-Mayor James D. Phelan, addressing a meeting of 
the General Relief Committee, suggested that the press 
make known to all people that the work of rebuilding will 
begin as soon as possible and that all skilled labor and 
trades should be prepared to remain in or near the city, 
as there would be plenty of employment immediately. 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 2>°7 

"California can take care of all the homeless," said Mr. 
Phelan, "and it is hoped and urgently desired that unskilled 
laborers do not go to far-off Eastern cities, as they will 
soon be employed in San Francisco." 

He said later: "The city 1 will be rebuilt on lines of 
strength and beauty heretofore unknown." 

Rudolph Spreckels said: "Of course the city will be 
rebuilt and better than ever." 

Homer S. King, President of the San Francisco 
Clearing House, said: 

"San Francisco has a future, and will rebuild. There 
is not even a panic and I have seen more than one panic. 
It is only a setback from which the city is strong and vigor- 
ous enough to recover. I do not believe any of the bankers 
consider this disaster anything more than a serious wound 
that will heal quickly and cleanly. 

"The banks are more than willing to help the people 
who have shared in the common distress. Chicago and 
Baltimore in time recovered from even greater setbacks. 
The people of San Francisco have always been progressive, 
and are recognized as hard workers. There is no reason 
why they should not do the same. 

"The bankers will help to rebuild the city. We are 
absolutely satisfied and assured as to our own standing. 
Most of the money that is put into circulation will go where 
it will be most effective in the re-establishment of busi- 
ness." 

With the fire almost out, authorities and large prop- 
erty holders were able to go into the devastated district 
and get some idea of the extent of the ruin. It was found 
in many instances that the losses were not so great as 
supposed, 



308 san francisco's great disaster. 

THREE ELEMENTS OF PROFIT. 

In three things the destruction of San Francisco 
wrought good to the San Francisco of posterity: 

It removed forever from the center of the city the 
greatest pest hole of any modern city — Chinatown. 

It taught the people of San Francisco how to build 
for security against earthquakes. 

It made possible the rectifying of the serious blunders 
of the builders of the city, who had blotched the finest topo- 
graphical site for a city beautiful in America. 

It can be taken for granted that Chinatown, which lay 
on the slope of Nob Hill between the best business and 
finest residential sections, will never be rebuilt in the center 
of the city. San Franciscans in New York, in the midst of 
their profound grief at the destruction of the city, paused 
to congratulate each other frequently that Chinatown 
would never more blot the side of Nob Hill. 

For years the public spirited men of San Francisco 
have planned to have Chinatown removed to the outskirts 
of the city. Men and women have almost prayed that one 
of the frequent fires in the cramped quarters of the little 
Canton would wipe it out, but the close proximity of two 
engine houses has always been its safeguard up until now. 
One idea of the progressive San Franciscans was to move 
the Chinese out of the town altogether and make them set 
up a town of their own. Since they would gamble and 
plunge into immoralities they should do it in a city by 
themselves, where the whites would not be contaminated. 

A big portion of the better class population of San 
Francisco had of necessity to go through this Chinatown 
to and from their places of business. It crowded the very 
business centre itself. Within one block of the Hall of Jus* 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 309 

tice were some of its worst dens. From 25,000 to 30,000 
Chinese, mostly of the worst class, thronged its narrow 
streets at night and shot each other in the theatres or split 
open the heads of enemies in dark halls. The protection 
fund, raised by the gambling trust, was large enough to 
buy many of the police officials. Only a little over a year 
ago Chief of Police Wittman and Sergeant Ellis were re- 
moved from office because of a scandal resulting in the 
latter's admission that he had been receiving protection 
money from the head of the gamblng trust. 

CHINESE WOMEN SLAVES. 

Within this congested pesthole hundreds of Chinese 
women were kept slaves. Walking through narrow alleys 
the visitor would see their faces behind iron barred win- 
dows hardly large enough to let in the necessary air. There 
was a society formed for the rescue of Chinese girls 
brought over from China for immoral purposes under the 
guise of "wives of Chinese merchants." This society ac- 
tually encountered difficulties from the white officials in 
carrying on its work, so powerful was the corruption fund. 
There is no people on earth so given to the giving and tak- 
ing of bribes as the Chinese. 

Right in the heart of Chinatown was one of the most 
openly conducted and the largest immoral house perhaps 
in the world. What was once a hotel on Jackson street was 
turned over to immoral purposes and from 150 to 200 
women had "cribs" there. So openly was it conducted that 
the newspapers referred to it as the "municipal crib." A 
half dozen other smaller places, but equally notorious, 
were on the edges of Chinatown. 



3IO . SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

NO MORE OF CHINATOWN. 

With San Francisco's Chinatown, the largest Chinese 
settlement outside of China, destroyed — it occupied ten 
square blocks in the city's heart — a new Chinese city will be 
built on the Pacific coast. A site will be purchased by a 
syndicate of Hongkong merchants, who already have the 
scheme well under way. 

While many Chinamen were among those who peri- 
shed, 20,000 managed to get across the bay to Oakland, 
where some found accommodations in Oakland's Chinese 
quarter. The majority of the rich merchants of San Fran- 
cisco's Chinatown were importing agents for large syndi- 
cates in China, and it was on these syndicates that much of 
the loss falls. However, many of San Francisco's Chinese 
importers lost every dollar they possessed, for some of 
them carried stocks of gold and silver jewelry of great 
value. 

The firm of Sing Fat & Co., at 614 Dupont street, was 
probably the largest firm of its kind in the world, and car- 
ried a stock valued at a million and a half dollars. They 
were in the heart of Chinatown in San Francisco, and were 
completely burned out. 

The firm of Wing Chong Wo, flour merchants, were 
at 716 Sacramento street. They were the owners of big 
flour mills at Seattle, Portland, and Oakland, but their 
headquarters were in San Francisco. As they were right 
in the line of the fire they probably lost half a million 
dollars. 

Sun Kam Wah, the Chinese millionaire of San Fran- 
cisco, was at 716 Dupont street, and his losses will foot up 
half a million. In fact, most all the importers and ex- 
porters along Dupont, Commercial, Clay, Washington, 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 3II 

Jackson, Pacific, and Stockton streets, Waverly Place, and 
Washington alley have suffered losses that will amount to 
more than $10,000 each, and in many instances to 
$100,000. 

Many of the Chinamen in San Francisco owned real 
estate in Chinatown, but some of them were backed by 
Hongkong syndicates, who will start them again in new 
buildings as soon as the work of erecting the new city gets 
under way. 

Chinatown in San Francisco was bounded by Califor- 
nia and Pacific streets, and Kearny and Stockton streets. 

About 21,000 Chinamen lived there, many of whom 
had gone West only recently to work in the salmon fish- 
eries. The normal population of Chinatown, was about 
17,000, but with the advent of Spring many Chinamen 
from other parts of the country had arrived, intending to 
remain for a few weeks. In fact, there were more China- 
men in San Francisco on the day of the disaster than had 
ever assembled there before. Not only was the Chinese 
quarter filled to overflowing, but in addition to the 3,000 
employed as cooks and in laundries and in the twenty-four 
branches of the building trades, there were 4,000 others 
from the East who had gotten employment in the factories 
last month. 

According to Le Compte, the Western Union Tele- 
graph operator who was the last to remain on duty, 
even after the city was in flames, many of the Chinamen 
gathered up their belongings and went up to the Golden 
Gate Park, where they camped out, but about 300 re- 
mained on guard in their shops until the roofs of the build- 
ings caught fire. 

Only a few of those who remained behind are believed 
to have escaped death, as they sat behind barred windows 



312 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

guarding their poultry and smoked fish until they them- 
selves were smoked to death. Of course, they were 
Chinamen of the lower class. 

The bankers and traders were among the first to flee, 
and they are now safely housed with friends in Oakland. 
Some of them will make their homes in Oakland in the 
future, but the majority will go to the new Chinese city 
as soon as it is completed, because they will be able to tran- 
sact their business as well in the new settlement as any- 
where else, for the reason that much of their business con- 
sists of trade with China. 

CHINESE WIVES TO GO EAST. 

Several thousand of the burned-out Chinamen will 
probably go East and settle in New York. If they do this 
they will undoubtedly take their Chinese wives, so that, in- 
stead of having half a dozen Chinese women, New 
Yorkers will see four or five hundred. The Chinese women 
of San Francisco dressed very gaudily, with loose-fitting 
blouses of generous dimensions. They painted their faces 
so that the paint was easily discernible. 

TO BE A CITY BEAUTIFUL. 

It is only of very recent years that there has been any 
concerted movement among the citizens of San Francisco 
to make of the city a city beautiful. There was formed 
about two years ago an organization of business and pro- 
fessional men, including landscape artists and architects, 
which had planned, roughly, some improvements that 
would have greatly enhanced the beauty of the city. 

But right at the start this committee realized that con- 
certed effort could never make the city what nature had 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 313 

seemingly intended it to be from the standpoint of beauty. 
Laid out in a hurry, as it were, and planned by men not 
realizing, nor perhaps caring, that its hills were more 
numerous and more beautiful than the hills of Rome, there 
could not have been a greater blotch to landscape than the 
running of streets straight up and down such hills as Nob, 
Russian and Rincon. That the early builders would un- 
doubtedly have marred Telegraph Hill in the same way is 
certain but for the fact that it happened to be too steep 
even for cable cars to climb almost perpendicularly. 

There are a dozen of these steep hills in San Francisco 
which overlook the bay, and afford a view of the whole 
country roundabout. Monte Diablo, with its occasionally 
snow capped head rising within twenty miles of San Fran- 
cisco, which hasn't experienced snow in twenty years, 
seems to be but across the bay from these hills. The San 
Franciscan wearing spring clothes without an overcoat, is 
often treated to the sight of snow on Monte Diablo. 

Then the hills behind Oakland and Berkeley, and the 
hills of Marin County and Mount Tamalpais to the north 
lie within the easy range of vision of the hill dweller of San 
Francisco. Standing on the great veranda of the Fair- 
mount Hotel at just this time of the year there lies before 
you a scene unequaled in its kind by any in the world ex- 
cept the view of the Bay of Naples from the City of Naples. 
The panorama of the bay and the hills beyond, with Monte 
Diablo in the background, never tires, for the reason that 
within a half hour the hue of the bay and the hills may 
change a half dozen times. On the green hills, especially, 
is there a constant change of nature's delicate colors. First 
she is blending blue and purple and then purple, green and 
blue. 

It was on these hills that the planners of San Fran- 



3 14 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

cisco beautifully dreamed of great, winding terraces and 
marble palaces that should surpass anything in the world, 
but they had but little hope of ever realizing their dream 
because the hills for the most part had already been marred 
by the almost perpendicular streets. 

Will this be changed now? It will be if it is found 
practicable, and if the sense of beauty, which is strong in 
California, triumphs over the spirit that made of Rincon 
Hill, for instance, a district of cheap residences. 

As to the rebuilding of San Francisco, it is certain that 
the city will enforce restrictions, based on the terrible ex- 
perience which the city has just gone through. It is the 
opinion of architects and builders that all business houses, 
no matter of what height, will be of steel cage construction, 
with the walls anchored to the steel frame-work. The 
earthquake demonstrated that such buildings will with- 
stand anything except such a convulsion of the earth as 
would topple them over from their own sheer weight. 

The earthquake has perhaps destroyed one fond hope 
of the San Franciscans. Several years ago a movement 
was put on foot to commerorate in one of the greatest ex- 
positions the world has ever seen, the four hundredth anni- 
versary of the discovery of the Pacific Ocean by Balboa. 
This exposition was to have been held in 191 3, and com- 
mittees had already been appointed to begin the prelimin- 
ary work. 

Scores of municipalities have been devastated by fire 
and flood or have been shaken by convulsions beneath or 
cyclones overhead, yet hardly has the shock passed than 
the citizens are at work among the ruins, building better 
than they knew before how to build. Boston, Chicago 
and Baltimore, swept by destructive fires, regained power 
arid within a few months were conducting their affairs as 



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san francisco's great disaster. 317 

though even the memory of disaster had passed from them. 
Those who believe in San Francisco say the spirit of 
Forty-nine will assert itself, that confidence will be restored 
and that soon a new city, buttressed against the elements, 
a city of steel and anchored masonry, will defy fate and 
establish itself more firmly on the site where now are 
broken columns and shapeless piles. The period of re- 
covery is surprisingly quick in American cities. Rebuild- 
ing begins within a few days, and in two or three years 
scarcely any trace of the disaster remains. 

DISASTER OF CONTINENT. 

Beyond all question, the double ruin which fell upon 
San Francisco represents the worst catastrophe which has 
ever befallen a municipality in the United States. It great- 
ly exceeds the Chicago fire of 1871, for when the Queen 
City of the West was laid low she had only a population of 
334,000, as compared with the 450,000 inhabitants who 
dwelt within the limits of San Francisco. The area burned 
in Chicago was about four square miles, while the district 
devastated by earthquake and by flames in San Francisco 
is approximately seven and one-half square miles. The 
death roll of Chicago bore 275 names, while there is every 
reason to believe that twice as many persons lost their lives 
in San Francisco, taking conservative estimates of army 
and navy officers as a basis. 

Twelve thousand buildings were destroyed in Chicago, 
and certainly more than that were reduced to ashes and to 
broken beams by the double disaster which spread havoc 
through the city by the Golden Gate. The monetary loss 
sustained by Chicago, using careful estimates made by the 
National Board of Underwriters, was $160,000,000, while 



318 sah Francisco's great disaster. 

that suffered by San Francisco is $250,000,000. In Chi- 
cago the homes of ninety-eight thousand persons were de- 
stroyed, and in San Francisco, three hundred thousand lost 
their homes. The disaster which has befallen San Fran- 
cisco easily exceeds the one which devastated Chicago, 
which had been considered the worst which had ever be- 
fallen any American city. 

Boston's fire in 1872 swept over sixty-five acres of 
the business part of the city and entailed a loss of $70,000,- 
000. The Baltimore fire of 1904 destroyed 2,500 buildings, 
situated in eighty blocks, representing 150 acres of terri- 
tory. The loss has been estimated at from $50,000,000 to 
$70,000,000. The amount of insurance actually paid as 
the result of the conflagration was $29,000,000. 

In comparing the catastrophe in San Francisco with 
others it must be borne in mind that the Western city has 
of recent years not been considered heavily insured, as 
comparatively small loses by fire caused many merchants to' 
make comparatively slight provision for the work of flames. 
Many of the structures were hardly considered insurable on 
account of their light and imflammable material and their 
great age. 

In all the payments of claims the question whether the 
loss was caused by the earthquake or the fire must be con- 
sidered and many of the policies will undoubtedly be can- 
celled on account of the earthquake clause. 

This would not give the owners of buildings and of 
stores as large an amount of insurance proportionately as 
was received by those who suffered on account of the fires 
in Chicago, Boston and Baltimore. 

Yet for all that, those who know the disposition and 
the temperament of the men of San Francisco say the citi- 
zens will rise superior to all obstacles. Energetic and self 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 310, 

reliant are all San Franciscans; they have in their make-up 
a buoyancy of spirit and a scorn of difficulties which come 
from the olden days of the coast and the Spanish occupa- 
tion. 

San Francisco has had earthquakes before and has 
experienced fires which have swept away considerable 
areas. The first shock over, those who believe in the des- 
tiny of the place maintain that the same energy will come 
into play which caused Chicago in a year to regain 
strength and to go forth on a career which has justified the 
most sanguine hopes of her citizens. 

CHICAGO'S QUICK RECOVERY. 

Chicago was as near nothing as it was possible for the 
city to be after the fire which began on October 7, 1871, 
had burned itself out. The business district was a black 
void and what had been hives of industry were blackened 
ruins. Merchant princes were reduced to beggary and es- 
tablishments which had done thousands of dollars' worth of 
business in a day were nowhere to be seen. Stones and 
bricks had not begun to cool before Chicago began to re- 
coup her losses and to prepare for building anew. 

The ''Burnt Outers'" walked about streets which 
scorched the soles of their shoes. One of them was seen 
fishing a brick out of a heap of masonry with the aid of 
heavy folds of paper as a protector. 

"Just trying to see/' he replied to an inquiry, "when 
these things will be cool enough to be laid down again." 

The firm of Field and Leiter, composed of men since 
known as merchant princes, saved its books from the fire 
and set up a temporary office in a side street where a pla- 
card was displayed saying they would be glad to hear from 



320 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTERS 

r.ny persons who might owe them anything, as they felt 
that they needed the money. 

Chicago remained by the lake and day by day cleared 
the ruin choked sites and laid the foundations of a new city 
and a new career. Merchants who had been directing 
great stores took to sidewalk stands, which they orna- 
mented with the legend that although they had lost every- 
thing they were still doing business at the old prices, and 
exhibited meagre wares which they had received on long 
credit. 

"Derrick days" in Chicago represented a period of 
quick rehabilitation which before that had never been seen. 
The idea of men remaining on a fire swept prairie among 
the smouldering piles of the city which was commanded the 
help and sympathy of the country and of the whole world. 

$40,000,000 FOR REBUILDING. 

What with $36,000,000 received from insurance com- 
panies and $40,000,000 of contributions the city had not 
much capital with which to begin life anew. Capital, how- 
ever, advanced money, and Boston especially was active in 
furnishing to the Queen of the West the means by which 
she began her fight with fate. Millions of dollars poured 
in from the American Athens. New York lent substantial 
aid and her leading merchants volunteered to give all the 
credit which was desired. Such messages as, "Suppose 
you are burned out; order from us what goods you wish; 
pay for them when you can," were wired to many mer- 
chants of Chicago, and as a result business was on its feet 
again in less than a year and before two years Chicago was 
well on her way to the realization of her ambitions. 

One of her citizens, standing amid the city's ruins, 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 32 1 

said that by the year 1900 Chicago would have more than 
a million inhabitants, and his prophecy, as all the world 
knows, was more than realized. Chicago was the scene 
of a world's fair a little more than two decades after the 
"burnt outers" walked among the smouldering embers 
waiting for the time of rebuilding. 

Boston, which had been the benefactress of Chicago, 
was swept by fire in 1872, and yet within a year she was 
blithely celebrating the centennial of the throwing over- 
board of British tea in the harbor. Within five years all 
traces of the conflagration were obliterated from her 
streets as thoroughly as was the clog which disaster 
brought removed from the spirit of her citizens. 

BALTIMORE MORE BEAUTIFUL. 

Baltimore began deliberately to rebuild after much 
of the business centre had been destroyed. Two years have 
passed since those fal eful days and a more beautiful city has 
arisen from the ashes. The fire was not thoroughly put 
out, for in an excavation remnants of the blaze were found 
only a few weeks ago. The merchants, after the district in 
which they had been housed went up in smoke, hired old 
warehouses and temporary buildin and re-established 
themselves within a few days. 

The municipal authorities thought that it was just as 
well, considering that the city was to be largely rebuilt, to 
do away with the narrow and often unsightly thorough- 
fares of the lower districts. Their decision to have wide 
streets and a better scheme of arrangement naturally 
caused a clash, and it was six months before the prelimin- 
aries were arranged. The city of Calvert took its time 
about building and erected structures which have made it 



2,22 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

one of the most pleasing municipalities in appearance on 
the North American continent. 

Business, however, did not perceptibly fail off in Bal- 
timore, such were the energy and masterful self control of 
her citizens. The real estate valuation of Baltimore for as- 
sessment purposes before the fire in 1903 was $385,000,000, 
and in 1904 the returns were a million in excess, while the 
valuation of city real estate in 1905 in the Monument City 
was $406,000,000, showing that the development of Balti- 
more was little retarded. 

How a city may rise superior to the worst attack of 
the elements is shown by the history of Galveston, Texas, 
swept by a tidal wave and a hurricane in 1900, and yet four 
years later celebrating amid restored prosperity and the 
building of new defences against the encroachments of the 
sea. The city of Charleston, S. C, shaken by earthquake, 
returned to its usual occupations and prospered as though 
nothing had happened. In many a thriving American city 
to-day the visitor is taken to the top of some high structure 
so he may observe the line of the last cyclone, marked by 
a building erected to take the place of those which went 
down or by the more recent masonry which is fitted in to 
replace parts of houses which were damaged by the passage 
of the storm. 

"As far as any one being afraid to live there is con- 
cerned," said Mr. Snow, "I do not think that is true. Men 
will live on the edge of the crater of Vesuvius, and, as a 
matter of fact they do. The country cannot do without San 
Francisco. The harbor is one of the best in the world and 
it is essential to the trade of the country. San Francisco is 
an entrepot for the Orient and from it are shipped many 
millions of dollars' worth of the products of the United 
States. Its shipping is enormous. It sends abroad the 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 323 

grain from the rich Sacramento Valley by ship and 
through it the railroads send fruit to the East. It is the 
clearing house for the fertile state of California. 

"San Francisco was there because it was needed and 
it cannot be swept away. Perhaps it will have two or three 
years of a struggle. Seattle may get some of the trade, 
but for all that it is bound to triumph over adversity. I 
have been in San Francisco often and I know the forceful, 
energetic and yet apparently care free citizens of that 
place.'' « , 

CITIES HARD TO DESTROY. 

Destruction of a great city might, in a financial way, 
mean one or both of two things — entanglement of general 
credit, or a heavy drain on capital. If New York were 
deeply involved with merchants and bankers of a ruined 
city, if obligations had to be met here without any pros- 
pect of collecting obligations due from there — the possibili- 
ties might be awkward. But that is not the situation. 
Even in the Chicago fire of 1871, this turned out to be the 
lesser evil. 

When, however, outright destruction of property in- 
volves enormous and immediate demands on capital to re- 
store it, another question arises. To take merely round 
numbers: If $100,000,000 worth of business houses, pave- 
ments, gas and water mains, public buildings, manufac- 
turing plants, and transportation appliances have been de- 
stroyed in forty-eight hours, and if the necessities of the 
case require replacement of all this property in the shortest 
possible period, the situation as regards the country's sup- 
ply of available capital must be affected. Money can be 
borrowed for the purpose, but when borrowed, it must be 
taken from quarters where it is already invested. In so* 



324 san francisco's great disaster. 

far as insurance companies pay for the loss, the general 
result is the same. The companies must withdraw from 
other investments the capital awarded to owners of the 
ruined buildings. The question of practical financial in- 
terest is, how heavily this new load will weigh upon the 
markets. -*. 

RESULT OF CHICAGO FIRE. 

The famous modern instance was the Chicago fire of 
October, 187 1. Total property loss at that time ran be- 
yond $200,000,000. Losses incurred by 341 insurance 
companies, as a result of the catastrophe, footed up $88,- 
634,122. It should be borne in mind that $200,000,000 
meant a good deal more to American finance thirty-five 
years ago than it means to-day. It is also interesting to 
remember that the Chicago fire occurred at the height of 
a business "boom," with trade extremely active, and real 
estate speculation rather wild in all sections of the country. 
Bank loans were heavily increased over the year before, 
without any increase in cash holdings, and a fortnight be- 
fore the great fire of October 8, surplus reserves of New 
York banks were down to $1,167,000. 

Here are some interesting resemblances to our pres- 
ent situation. What followed? Heavy Stock Exchange 
liquidation, here and at London, came as a matter of 
course; there were such declines, within a week, as nine 
points in New York Central shares, eight in Union Pacific 
and Burlington and Quincy, seventeen in Lake Shore, 
twelve in Pacific Mail. So far as concerned the Stock Ex- 
change, this flurry of alarm spent itself before the month 
was over. Despite the large drain of currency to Chicago, 
the New York bank position grew stronger. Naturally, 
railways converging on Chicago had to report decreasing 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 325 

earnings; the St. Paul's for instance, fell in October from 
the $908,000 of 1870 to $841,000, and in November from 
$791,000 to $644,000; yet stocks even of these companies 
recovered most of October's loss. What was most note- 
worthy of all, was the fact that despite the catastrophe at 
Chicago in October, the ensuing year was a period of en- 
thusiastic speculation for the rise in everything, and of 
immensely increased engagements of capital. 

CAPITAL CAN BEAR HEAVY STRAIN. 

How is this to be explained? Was the Chicago dis- 
aster really a negligable fact in finance, except for a 
single week of Stock Exchange disturbances? This would 
be a rather sweeping conclusion; but, on the other hand, 
the episode of the seventies leaves no doubt that the in- 
fluence of such an event may be much overestimated. Pro- 
digious waste of capital did occur in 1871, as it has occur- 
red this month, and it had to be replaced. Yet after all, 
the loss at Chicago was but a fraction of the capital flung 
away unproductively in the Franco-Prussian War, and the 
San Francisco loss bears a similarly small proportion to 
the billion dollars or thereabouts sunk in the fight between 
Russia and Japan. All that this proves is that capital is 
mono elastic than is sometimes thought, and that it can 
beat pretty heavy strains so long as credit stands. There 
are € conomists, as well as practical financiers, who ascribe 
the J anic of 1873 to the country's losses in the Chicago 
fire ci 1 87 1 and the Boston fire of 1872, but the direct con- 
nect! m is not easy to prove. In Europe, that panic has 
been similarly ascribed to the losses of the Franco-Prus- 
sian nar of 1870. What somewhat damages that theory 
is the (act that France, the defeated belligerent, was about 



326 san Francisco's great disaster. 

the only European nation whose markets did not fall into 
panic, three years later. 

CITY STRONG FINANCIALLY. 

The one comforting feature of the San Francisco dis- 
aster is found in the financial conditions of the stricken 
city. The prompt action of the Government, which on 
Thursday, the day after the great earthquake, authorized 
the immediate transfer of $10,000,000 from New York to 
San Francisco, started a steady flow of money toward the 
metropolis of the Golden Gate. On that day $3,500,000 
was sent by the National Park Bank of New York City 
through the Sub-Treasury. According to the reports made 
to the Comptroller of the Currency on January 29th last 
the total of money belonging to San Francisco deposited 
in various institutions in other points was not large; there 
was due the San Francisco banks from other national 
Banks ,$3,097,293; from state banks and bankers $3,988,- 
230; from reserve agents, $5,873,468, making a total of 
$12,959,991. 

In regard to the first two items, which aggregate over 
$7,000,000, a large proportion would be held in and around 
San Francisco, and the balance would be scattered in var- 
ious parts of the United States. The bulk of the last item, 
nearly $6,000,000 was on deposit in New York City and 
Chicago. 

BANKS WELL SUPPLIED WITH MONEY. 

At the end of January there were ten National banks 
in the city with aggregate assets of $98,191,060. After 
the earthquake and before the flames had reached the bank- 
ing district the doors of the various banks were called upon 



SAX FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 327 

by depositors eager to secure their money. It became nec- 
essary to close the doors of many banks and call on the 
troops for assistance. Military guards were placed at the 
bank entrance to keep the crowds in check and preserve 
order. 

The United States Mint, in which was stored $39,- 
000,000 in gold and silver coin and bullion, was the only 
building left standing of the financial institutions of 
the city. Heroic work by Supt. Leach and his as- 
sistants saved the building from destruction. It with- 
stood the earthquake shock and the later fire. The total 
coinage at this institution for the fiscal year ended June 30, 
last was $76,815,538, of which $64,313,500 was gold, and 
$12,502,038 silver. The total coinage for the same year of 
all the mints of the United States was $91,172,720, of which 
$29,983,691 was gold. From these figures it will be seen 
that the San Francisco Mint is the most important in the 
country, so far as the coinage of gold is concerned. 

The State Board of Bank Commissioners opened 
temporary quarters in Oakland just across the bay and 
took necessary steps to relieve stringency, in which task 
they were aided by the government. 

The banks showed the utmost pluck and no doubt 
that San Francisco will arise more beautiful from her ashes 
is heard from the financiers of the Golden Gate City. 

San Francisco's population at the time of the confla- 
gration was 450,000. The city receives from taxation a 
total of $6,103,849. The taxes levied for state purposes 
were $2,569,489, giving the city a taxable earning power of 
$8,673,338 per annum. 

PEOPLE WILL SOON RETURN. 

Though because of the destruction of the business and 



328 san francisco's great disaster. 

of a large part of the residential section of the city, thou- 
sands of the inhabitants are taking refuge in more or less re- 
mote localities, this exodus is likely to be only temporary 
and when the city shall be rebuilt the refugees will probably 
return and renew their occupations. It is inconceivable that 
no matter how great the inducements offered migration of 
San Franciscans to perhaps more attractive neighborhoods, 
there will be any permanent abandonment by them of the 
city in which they have had their support and where very 
many have accumulated their wealth. There is no other 
municipality on the Coast having a location so advanta- 
geous for the conduct of commercial and industrial enter- 
prises; none with so* spacious and easily protected a harbor 
and none combining trans-continental and ocean transpor- 
tation facilities as this Golden Gate — the nation's pathway 
to the Far East. There has been built, from the beginning 
of its career as a business centre, such a secure basis for 
the development of all productive activities that not even 
the most energetic rivalry of other newer and possibly, in 
some respects, quite as advantageous location will sup- 
plant this city of Seven Hills as the metropolis of the West.. 
The interests, capitalistic and otherwise, which have 
so long been identified with San Francisco, have no 
thought of the abandonment of the city because of its ex- 
posure to seismic disturbances. The disaster has taught a 
lesson,which will never be forgotten, of the danger of per- 
mitting the construction of buildings that, in case of con- 
flagration, but add fuel to the flames; the practical solidity 
of steel, reinforced with cement, as the foundation and the 
framework of the structure,, has been fully demonstrated; 
the disadvantages resulting from precipitate grades, which 
could not well have been rectified in the early days, when 
rebuilding followed disastrous fires, will now be removed 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. $ 2 9 

and the area for the resurrected city will be vastly aug- 
mented. Engineering problems in construction have been 
so completely solved that no difficulty will be experienced 
in the rehabilitation of San Francisco in such a way as to 
make it almost immune from the effects of shock and con- 
flagration in the future and the new city will be, when the 
work shall be completed, a marvel of modern construction. 
Millions of money will be required, but it will be easily ob- 
tained. The insurance upon the property destroyed will 
supply much that may be needed; appropriations by the 
Federal government for public buildings and by the state 
and municipality for those required for the use of the com- 
monwealth and the city, will be liberal; capital for private 
enterprises and for the restoration of residences will be 
provided without stint and the bond issues made neces- 
sary will find a market in every section of the country. 
The financial quarter will doubtlesss receive the earliest 
attention and the institutions themselves may be expected 
to undertake the rebuilding of edifices for their own indi- 
vidual requirements. The section of the city which is de- 
voted to commercial enterprises has been spared by the 
flames and probably nothing more will be needed there 
than ordinary repair. 

REVIVAL OF PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITIES. 

It is true that the calamity was appalling, and, meas- 
ured by loss of life and destruction of property, quite un- 
precedented in magnitude. It is not, however, of such a 
wide spread disastrous character as would result from the 
partial blighting of a single one of our season's crops — 
grain, cotton or hay for example. Such a calamity would 
fc>e an unparalleled national loss and it would be felt by vast 



330 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

numbers of the community in a greater or less degree; it 
might, however, be speedily reparable by the next or h.ter 
succeeding crops. The land in the residential and business 
areas will doubtless be more valuable because of its im- 
provement through rebuilding, rilling in and regrading; the 
money and securities in the vaults of the financial institu- 
tions are intact and they will be made available. The 
business that has been suspended by reason of the destruc- 
tion of stores and warehouses, will be resumed with energy 
when these structures shall be replaced. Commerce will 
have even more rapid development in consequence of 
its temporary interruption, and industrial enterprises will 
be speedily resumed now that the shock of the disaster has 
been expended. 

THE CALIFORNIA BANKS IN A SUBSTANTIAL POSITION. 

It may be observed that one of the chief contributory 
causes for mercantile defaults is loss by fire. Inasmuch 
as such loss has in this case been enormous, and in very 
many cases not offset by insurance or through salvage, 
there will doubtless be more or less anxiety felt in bank- 
ing circles — until the actual loss shall be determined and 
the sum of such loss be reducible through insurance — re- 
garding the solvency of their debtors. The banking orga- 
nizations of the Pacific states, which doubtless are chiefly 
interested, were in such a position, as regards accumulated 
surplus and undivided profits, as to be able to meet losses 
sustained through defaults by their borrowers without the 
least embarrassment or a material reduction of their sur- 
plus. Therefore with the fire losses minimized because of 
the prompt response of insurance companies; with needs 
largely met in consequence of liberal contributions of 



san francisco's great disaster. 331 

money for relief, and with assistance extended for the re- 
sumption of productive activities, local and other capital 
will be confidently and liberally employed. 

FATHER OF THE NEW SAN FRANCISCO. 

Daniel Hudson Burnham, builder of cities, expects 
San Francisco to take its place as the American Paris 
in the arrangement of its streets and the American Naples 
in the beauty of its bay and skies. The plans for the ideal 
San Francisco were his, and hardly had his report been 
printed than the columns of the old city went down to 
ruin and fire swept out of existence the landmarks by the 
gate of gold. 

It is now the question, How far will the new San Fran- 
cisco realize the dreams of those who have had before them 
for so many years the image of a metropolis of the Pacific 
with broad boulevards and great parkways and wooded 
heights — a city of sunken gardens, of airy bridges, of 
stately gardens and broad expanses? 

Upon the invitation of the Association for the Im- 
provement and Adornment of San Francisco Mr. Burnham 
went to the Golden Gate, where he devoted months to the 
plans for a new city. A bungalow was built on the Twin 
Peaks seven hundred feet above the level of the streets, 
from which Mr. Burnham and his staff of assistants could 
command a view of the city and the bay. The material 
which they sought to make into the perfect city was before 
them day and night. They saw San Francisco by sunlight, 
in fog, in storm or in the blaze of a myriad lights. As the 
work progressed the San Franciscans who were interested 
in the scheme often climbed to the bungalow to watch the 
progress of the work. 



33^ SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

PLANS A CIVIC CENTRE. 

The scheme prepared by Mr. Burnham provided, first, 
for a civic centre where all the principal city buildings were 
to be located and also the new union railroad station. 
About this was to be a broad, circular boulevard, a perim- 
eter of distribution, and beyond this a series of broader 
boulevards or parkways connecting the hills, which were to 
be converted into parks themselves. 

About this was I '" \ ;ve been the encircling boule- 
vard following the shor^ line of the peninsula. The scheme 
included also the extension of the avenue leading to the 
Golden Gate Park, known as the Panhandle, the building 
of a Greek amphitheatre on the Twin Peaks, with a statue 
of San Francisco greeting the countries of the Orient. The 
plan also provided for a new parade ground at the Presidio 
and the building of numerous parks and playgrounds 
throughout the city. All this was to have cost millions, 
but to a man of the largeness of view of the City Builder 
this was a detail which was to be reckoned with year by 
year. 

Now that buildings which were to have been acquired 
by the city to make room for the pathways of the ideal San 
Francisco have been swept away by fire, it may be that the 
vision of Daniel H. Burnham may be realized, not in years 
but in months. 

Like most men who accomplish things Mr. Burnham 
is not given to talking. He said that he did not think the 
work which he had done entitled him to the name 
of Builder of Cities, which had been bestowed upon him. 

'As a matter of fact," he said, "I did not do so very 
much. I served on a few commissions." 

He is square shouldered and has the bearing frequent- 
ly noticed in men of his type who are accustomed to deal- 



san Francisco's great disaster. 333 

ing with difficulties and overcoming them. His eyes are 
genial and kindly and they show the artist and the* idealist 
as strongly as the firm chin reveals the aggressive business 
man. He is a combination of the poet and the utilitarian, 
for he is as romantic as he is practical. The designer of the 
Jewel by the Golden Gate is also the architect of the Flat- 
iron Building. 

"What do you think of San Francisco?" he was asked. 

"San Francisco," he replied, and his eye kindled as he 
spoke, "has the finest site for a city in the world. No words 
can do justice to the natural beauties which surround it. 
It can be easily a second Paris." 

"But will it?" was asked. 

"That is hard to say," replied Mr. Burnham. "It 
was the original intention that a change should be made 
gradually. In order to carry out the scheme considerable 
legislation will be necessary. It was intended that Balti- 
more after the fire should be completely remodelled as far 
as its streets were concerned, but, as is well known, not all 
of these plans were carried out. The improvement of 
Paris is still being carried on in conformity with the plans 
prepared by Baron Hausmann, and it will be many years 
before they are completed. In the French capital boule- 
vards are still being constructed and changes made in ac- 
cordance with the Haussman scheme." 

MANY CHANGES NECESSARY. 

"It is an unfortunate thing that our American cities 
are not first laid out in accordance with some definite idea. 
As a matter of fact, however, they simply grow up and 
later have to be changed in order to give them symmetry. 
In Europe the whole idea is different. The government 



334 san francisco's great disaster. 

has more control over such affairs than it has i^ this coun- 
try, and it prescribes just what the height of tfc* buildings 
shall be. The result is a skyline which is imposing. In this 
country each man builds for himself. 

"San Francisco interested me greatly/' he added, "on 
account of its possibilities. I have never enjoyed my work 
more than I did there on the top of Twin Peaks, with the 
city lying beneath us. Everybody who was connected with 
the plan was enthusiastically interested in its success." 

LEFT OUT CHINATOWN. 

Mr. Burnham's plan for the New San Francisco left 
Chinatown out of the reckoning, as there was talk of pri- 
vate capital arranging for the transfer of the quarter to 
another part of the city. It was the opinion of Mr. Burn- 
ham that Chinatown, as occupying a valuable section of 
San Francisco, would eventually have to go. 

"Twin Peaks," runs the report made by Mr. Burnham, 
"and the property lying around them, should be acquired 
for park purposes by the city. The idea is to weave park 
and residence districts into interesting and economic rela- 
tions, and also to preserve from the encroachments of 
building the hill bordered valley running to Lake Merced, 
so that the vista from the parks to the ocean shall be un- 
broken. It is planned to preserve the beautiful canyon or 
glen to the south of Twin Peaks and also to maintain as 
far as possible the wooded background formed by the 
hills looking south from Golden Gate Park. This park 
area of the Twin Peaks, which includes the hills which sur- 
round the San Miguel Valley and is terminated by Lake 
Merced, is a link in the chain of parks girdling the city. 

"To the north of Twin Peaks lies a natural hollow. 



san francisco's great disaster. 335 

Here it is proposed to create an amphitheatre or stadium of 
vast proportions. The gentler slopes of the Twin Peaks 
will probably be used as villa properties. The plans for 
Twin Peaks also include a collective centre or academy 
which is to be arranged for the accommodation of men in 
various branches of intellectual or artistic pursuits. A 
little open air theatre, after the Greek model, would form 
a part of this scheme." 

Even Telegraph Hill is to have its precipitate sides ter- 
raced and is to be transformed into a park, according to the 
design of Mr. Burnham. To carry out all the plans of the 
architect will be a large task, but the citizens of the new 
San Francisco expect that the broad general lines will be 
laid down and then in the course of time the rest will be 
added. 



GREAT FIRES OF THE PAST. 

The San Francisco fire takes rank as the most destruc- 
tive conflagration in all history, being a calamity of far 
greater magnitude even than the famous fires of London 
and Chicago. Present indications are that it has done up- 
ward of $300,000,000 damage and has made 300,000 people 
homeless. The greatest fires of history have been as fol- 
lows : 

Great fire of London, September 2-6, 1666; 436 acres 
devastated, 89 churches, many public buildings and 13,200 
houses destroyed; 200,000 people made homeless. 

Cornhill Ward of London, March 25, 1748; 200 houses 
burned. 

New York City, December 16, 1835; 600 warehouses 
destroyed ; loss, $20,000,000. 

Charleston, S. C, April 27, 1838; 1158 buildings de- 
stroyed. 

New York City, September 6, 1839; 46 buildings de- 
stroyed; loss, $10,000,000. 

Pittsburg, April 10, 1845; IOO ° buildings destroyed; 
loss, $6,000,000. 

New York City, June 28, 1845; I 3°° dwellings de- 
stroyed. 

New York City, July 19, 1845 \ 3° 2 buildings destroyed 
and four lives lost. 

Albany, N. Y., September 9, 1848; 600 buildings de- 
stroyed ; loss, $3,000,000. 

St. Louis, May 17, 1849; 15 blocks of houses and 23 
steamboats destroyed; loss, $3,000,000. 

San Francisco, May 3-5, 1851; 2500 buildings de- 

33 6 



337 



stroyed, many lives lost; loss, $3,500,000. 

San Francisco, June 22, 185 1 ; 500 buildings destroyed; 
loss, $3,000,000. 

Portland, Me., July 4, 1866; city practically destroyed; 
10,000 made homeless; loss, $15,000,000. 

Chicago, October 8-9, 1872; 17,450 buildings de- 
stroyed, 200 people killed, 98,500 made homeless; loss, 
$200,000,000. The most destructive fire ever known prior 
to the San Francisco calamity. 

Boston, November 9, 1872; 800 buildings burned; loss, 
$80,000,000. 

Baltimore, February 7-8, 1904; 2500 buildings burned; 
loss, $70,000,000. 

It will be seen that the great Chicago fire is second in 
the extent of loss of life and property loss to that at San 
Francisco. The great fire most recently in the minds of 
the people was that at Baltimore. The whole nation was 
appalled at the extent of that disaster. Something of the 
awful catastrophe at San Francisco may be imagined when 
the fact is stated that it is twenty times greater than the 
calamity at Baltimore. The Baltimore burned district con- 
tained nearly 140 acres, while at San Francisco, six square 
miles, or nearly 4000 acres were burned over. The extreme 
length of Baltimore's burned district, north and south, was 
2900 feet ; east and west, 3800 feet. The extreme length of 
San Francisco's devastated area, north and south, was 
21,000 feet, or four miles, and the extreme length, east and 
west, 15,700 feet, or three miles. The outer margin of the 
San Francisco fire was 26 miles long. In the Baltimore fire, 
73 blocks and 25 isolated sections along the water front, or 
93 squares, were destroyed. In San Francisco more than 
1000 blocks were wiped out. The total number of buildings 



338 san francisco's great disaster. 

destroyed in Baltimore was 1343, while 15,000 buildings 
were burned or razed by the earthquake in San Francisco. 
Conservative estimates place the actual property damage 
in Baltimore at $150,000,000, on which $50,000,000 in 
insurance was carried, of which $32,000,000 actually was 
paid. The actual property damage in San Francisco equals 
$300,000,000, on which $150,000,000 will eventually be 
paid. In Baltimore 20 banks, 8 hotels, 1 theatre and 1 
church were destroyed. In San Francisco, 4 banks, 7 hotels, 
6 theatres, 17 churches and 2 markets, though this does 
not include smaller banks and hotels. 

But what makes the Baltimore fire fade into insig- 
nificance beside the Western disaster is that while in Balti- 
more few homes were burned and, so far as known, no 
lives were lost ; in San Francisco thousands were left home- 
less and 1,000 persons perished. 

THE CHICAGO FIRE. 

The Chicago fire first called to the attention of this 
country the possible fate of great cities when attacked 
by this destroyer. That catastrophe sartled the country 
as few disasters ever have done. The wave of horror, and 
following it the greater wave of sympathy and will to aid, 
equalled in intensity similar phenomena which followed the 
blow to San Francisco. 

The conflagration commenced by the overturning of 
a lamp, in a district built up almost exclusively of wood, 
about nine o'clock in the evening of Sunday, October 8, 
187 1 ; it continued through that night and the greater part 
of the next day, lapping up great blocks of houses, and 
growing by what it fed on. It was finally checked by ex- 



san francisco's great disaster. 339 

plosions of gunpowder in a line of houses on tRe south of 
the fire, and exhausted itself on the north 6y burning all 
there was to ignite. The area burned over in each divi- 
sion of the city was as follows : West division (in which the 
fire originated), 194 acres; South division, 460 acres; 
North division, 1470 acres. The total area burned was 
2124 acres, or nearly 31-3 square miles, about 4 miles in 
length, -and from 1 to 1^ miles in width. The season had 
been excessively dry; the rainfall in Chicago for the sum- 
mer had been 28^ per cent, of the average. There was 
a strong southwest wind, made a very sirocco by the heat, 
and taking irregular, fantastic and uncontrollable off-shoots 
and eddies, which spread the fire in all directions except 
west. The city fire department, though large and efficient, 
had been exhausted by an unusually extended fire the Sat- 
urday preceding, and the flames outran even their earliest 
efforts. Wooden buildings were scattered throughout the 
entire city, acting as brands to spread the conflagration. 
These were the main conditions of the fire. 

98,860 PEOPLE HOMELESS. 

The total number of buildings destroyed was 17,450, 
and 98,860 people were rendered homeless; of the latter 
250 perished in the flames or lost their lives from exposure. 
Thousands, flying before the flames, sought refuge in the 
lake, and remained standing in the water for hours as the 
only means of preservation against the intense heat and 
the showers of sparks and cinders. Among the buildings 
destroyed were the custom-house, post-office, courthouse, 
chamber of commerce and nearly all the churches, railway 
stations, hotels, banks, theatres, newspaper offices, and 



34° san francisco's great disaster. 

buildings of a quasi-public character. It is estimated that 
J$ miles frontage of streets was burned over, most of which 
had been improved with wood block pavements ; these were 
partially destroyed. The total loss has been estimated at 
$196,000,000 — of which $53,000,000 represented the value 
of the buildings destroyed, $58,710,000 the personal effects, 
and the remainder business stocks, produce and manufac- 
tures of every description. On the losses there was an in- 
surance of $88,634,122, of which about one-half was re- 
covered. A vast system of relief was organized, which re- 
ceived the most generous aid from all parts of the world. 
The money contributions from the various States and from 
abroad were $4,996,782 ; of this England contributed nearly 
$500,000. These funds, which were over and above the 
contributions of food, clothing and supplies, were made to 
last, under the careful and honest administration of a so- 
ciety of citizens till the close of the year 1876. Out of them 
temporary homes were provided for nearly 40,000 people; 
barracks and shelter-houses were erected, workmen were 
supplied with tools and women with sewing-machines; the 
sick were cared for and the dead buried; and' the poorer 
classes of Chicago were probably "never so comfortable as 
within two or three years after this fire. 

HOW THE CITY WAS REBUILT. 

The work of rebuilding the city was accomplishel with 
marvelous rapidity. Immediately after the fire, the most 
sanguine persons predicted that it would require at least 
ten years to restore the buildings that had been destroyed. 
But within three years the city was provided with buildings 
equal in capacity and of two-fold value. The work was 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 34 1 

begun before the cinders were cold, and the population 
seemed to gain new ambition and new energy from the dis- 
aster. The "fire limits" were extended so as to prevent the 
erection of other that stone, brick or iron buildings within 
a large area, and subsequetly this prohibition was applied 
to the entire city. The result has been to make new Chicago 
the most beautiful city in America in its business center. 

But it is within the last five years that the architectural 
development of Chicago has been greatest and most marked. 
The construction of buildings of 12, 14 and even 18 and 
20 stories has become so common that the erection of half- 
a-dozen new "skyscrapers" is hardly noticed. Office build- 
ings containing from 400 to 600 rooms are common, and 
even larger buildings are projected. No city on earth can 
boast of such commercial buildings as Chicago, while the 
structures devoted to manufacturing purposes are un- 
equalled anywhere. Side by side with this, the erection of 
public buildings and private residences has gone on apace 
until Chicago stands second only to New York among 
American cities. The swift rehabilitation of the city is 
prophetic of what will happen at San Francisco. The same 
indomitable spirit, born, perhaps of the West, is the proud 
possession of the people of the city that sets a watch at 
the Golden Gate. Just as the new Chicago, that rose on 
the ashes of the old was a greater city than had been, so 
the new San Francisco will be greater. Chicago's inspira- 
tion came largely from the fact that it stood in a position 
of strategic importance to the vast West which was then 
on the threshold of a tremendous commercial importance. 
In the case of San Francisco there is even greater inspira- 
tion to be got from her commercial future. The great 
Orient is only beginning the era of its importance as a 



34 2 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

market for American products. Through the Golden Gate 
is to stream a commerce, growing each year in extent and 
importance, even greater than that which has grown up in 
the territory which pays tribute to the marts of Chicago. 
It is no empty prediction that a greater future spreads out 
before San Francisco than before any American port. The 
whole nation will share in the prosperity which must come, 
not only to San Francisco, but to every port on the 
Pacific Coast, which flings open its portals for the trade 
of the East. Mighty China is awakening. Manchuria, to 
the northward, is to be an ever increasing market. Ameri- 
can merchants already have invaded some of the most 
promising territory. One day all of China will be opened to 
the trade of the world ; the people will awake to needs now 
undreamed of in their primitive state. Every producing 
country in the world will be a competitor for the rich 
stakes offered, but American enterprise will, beyond doubt, 
dominate the ever widening Asiatic market. It is through 
San Francisco, largely that the trade must flow ; that which, 
in ever increasing volume, will flow from the East toward 
the American and European markets. It is to realize all 
the boundless possibilities of this golden future that the 
city must rise, as her sister, of the mid-west rose, thirty- 
five years ago. 

THE GREAT FIRE AT BOSTON. 

A little more than a year after the Chicago fire the 
nation was startled again by a similar disaster which visited 
Boston. 

The buildings of Boston having from the first been 
largely of wood — the use of which material for that pur- 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 343 

pose is now under severe restrictions — and closely com- 
pacted, the old town suffered from frequent and disastrous 
conflagrations, several of which were successively described 
as "The Great Fire." There had been ten of these disas- 
ters, severe under the then existing circumstances, before 
the year 1698. In 171 I, the townhouse and a meeting 
house, both of brick, and a hundred dwellings were de- 
stroyed. In 1760 a conflagration consumed 349 dwellings, 
stores, and shops, and rendered more than 1,000 people 
homeless. But these and all subsequent ones were eclipsed 
in their devastation by the disaster of November 9-10, 
1872, in which hundreds of costly warehouses filled with 
goods, with banks, offices, churches, etc., were destroyed, 
though all of brick or granite, involving a loss of over 
$80,000,000. It is an evidence of the energy and resources 
of the citizens, that in a little more than two years after 
the catastrophe, the whole "burnt district," with widened 
and improved thoroughfares, was covered with solid, sub- 
stantial, and palatial edifices combining all the safeguards, 
improvements, and conveniences of modern skill. 

Here, again, American pluck came to the fore. This 
time the sturdy New England stock was called to show 
its mettle. And when the battle had been won it remained 
an open question whether New England valor or western 
pluck had gained the day. At any rate, just as Chicago 
had met the crisis and come off victor, so Boston, in her 
hour of trial, won the laurel and the bay. And the same 
moral mus«t be pointed; for what Boston, on the Atlantic 
seaboard, did, San Francisco, on the shores of the Pacific, 
will do. 

THE BALTIMORE FIRE. 

The Baltimore fire, to which reference has been made 



344 SA N FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

by way of comparison, will always be numbered among 
the great disasters to American cities, though outdone by 
the extent of the catastrophes at Chicago, Boston and San 
Francisco. In the case of Baltimore, the blow was struck 
mainly at the business life of the city. So far as known 
no life was lost directly as the cause of fire and only a few 
score were rendered homeless. The fire ravaged the busi- 
ness districts of the city, leaving the residence sections in- 
tact. It began on Sunday afternoon, February 7, 1904, 
and burned for forty-eight hours. Fire apparatus from 
Washington, Philadelphia, New York, and a score of 
smaller cities in Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey 
was sent to aid the Baltimore department and the credit 
of stopping the avalanche of flame on the eastern edge, 
within five hundred yards ' of the city's great tenement 
house district was accorded to the volunteers from New 
York. The damage amounted to $150,000,000. Insurance 
of $59,000,000 was paid. The city declined to accept out- 
side assistance, though this was freely proffered from all 
parts of the country. The Mayor, Robert M. McLane, 
sent abroad a brave message declaring that the blow had 
fallen exclusively on the business interests, that there was 
no human want or suffering, and that, unassisted, the busi- 
ness interests of the city would meet the crisis and rebuild 
their city on a bigger and better scale than it had known. 
All of this was accomplished. Within a year tremendous 
strides had been made toward rebuilding. In the mean- 
time business had invaded residence sections, even the 
fashionable thoroughfares of the city, and, despite the 
handicap of temporary and incommodious quarters had not 
only held their own in a commercial way but had increased 



san francisco's great disaster. 345 

the commercial importance of the Gateway City of the 
South. 

THE FIRE OF LONDON. 

The fire, which, in 1666, destroyed the greater part 
of the city of London, is among the great tragedies of 
history. Despite the fact that more than three centuries 
have passed since this catastrophe, no great fire occurs 
but that the event is a matter of mention. In D. Hume's 
History of England, this reference to the event is found: 

"While the war (with the Dutch) continued without 
any decisive success on either side, a calamity happened 
in London which threw the people into great consterna- 
tion. Fire, breaking out (September 2, 1666) in a baker's 
house near the bridge, spread itself on all sides with such 
rapidity that no efforts could extinguish it, till it laid in 
ashes .a considerable part of the city. The inhabitants, 
without being able to provide effectually for their relief, 
were reduced to be spectators of their own ruin ; and were 
pursued from street to street by the flames which unex- 
pectedly gathered round them. Three days and nights did 
the fire advance; and it was only by the blowing up of 
houses that it was at last extinguished". * * * About 400 
streets and 13,000 houses were reduced to ashes. The 
causes of the calamity were evident. The narrow streets 
of London, the houses built entirely of wood, the dry season, 
and a violent east wind which blew; these were so many 
concurring circumstances which rendered it easy to assign 
the reason of the destruction that ensued. But the people 
were not satisfied with this obvious account. Prompted 
by blind rage, some ascribed the guilt to the republicans, 
others to the Catholics. * * * The fire of London, though 



346 san francisco's great disaster. 

at that time a great calamity, has proved in the issue bene- 
ficial both to the city and the kingdom. The city was re- 
built in a very little time, and care was taken to make the 
streets wider and more regular than before. * * * Lon- 
don became much more healthy after the fire. 

A closer view of the great fire may be had in the 
pages of Evelyn's Diary, a contemporaneous publication, 
under date of September 7, 1666. The writer's experiences 
are thus quaintly described : 

"I went this morning (Sept. 7) on foot from White- 
hall as far as London Bridge, thro' the late Fleete-street, 
Ludgate hill, by St. Paules, Cheapeside, Exchange, Bishop- 
gate, Aldersgate and out to Moorefields, thence through 
Cornehill, etc., with extraordinary difficulty clambering over 
heaps of yet smoking rubbish, and frequently mistaking 
where I was. The ground under my feete so hot, that it 
even burnt the soles of my shoes. * * * At my returne 
I was infinitely concerned to find that goodly Church 
St. Paules now a sad ruine. * * * Thus lay in ashes that 
most venerable church, one of the most ancient pieces of 
early piety in ye Christian world, besides neere 100 
more. * * * In five or six miles traversing about I did 
not see one loade of timber unconsum'd, nor many stones 
but what were calcin'd white as snow. * * * I then went 
toward Islington and Highgate, where one might have seen 
200,000 people of all ranks and degrees dispers'd and lying 
along by their heaps of what they could save from the fire, 
deploring their losse, and tho' ready to perish for hunger 
and destitution, yet not asking one penny for reliefe, 
which to me appear'd a stranger sight than any I had yet 
beheld." 



EARTHQUAKES IN AMERICA 

Mfellett's earthquake catajlogue contains the record 
of nearly 7000 seismic disturbances, but of these only a 
very small number affected the northern part of this hemis- 
phere. While earthquakes are on the record here as far 
back as 1755, when the inhabitants of Boston were scared 
by falling chimneys at about the time when Lisbon was 
destroyed, only three serious disturbances in the North 
American Continent are recorded. 

Two of these occurred in California. One was in 1812, 
when, while vesper service was being celebrated in the mis- 
sion church of San Juan Capistrano, the building collapsed, 
burying several hundred worshipers, some fifty of whom 
were killed. In 1872 a series of shocks passed through the 
Inyo Valley, Cal., with disastrous consequences both to life 
and property. Chasms opened in the ground, swallowing 
several persons. The town of Long Pine was buried under 
a crumbling hillside and twenty-seven of its inhabitants 
lost their lives. Some extraordinary phenomena were ob- 
served on that occasion. In several places the land sank 
many feet. Owen's Lake rose five feet, and for several 
hours the waters of two tributary rivers were running back- 
ward. 

THE CHARLESTON EARTHQUAKE. 

The third serious earthquake on this continent occurred 
in the city of Charleston, at about 10 P. M., on August 31, 
1886. The first shock was the most severe, causing the loss 
of about fifty lives by the collapse of buildings and destroy- 
ing property to the value of $5,000,000. - It was estimated at 

347 



34-8 SAN FRANCISCO'S GREAT DISASTER. 

the time that seven-eighths of the buildings in the town were 
wrecked or damaged. The most terrible feature to the in- 
habitants was the continuance of slight shocks for ten days 
afterward. None of these caused damage, but they kept 
the population in a state of constant panic, and many slept 
out in the streets during the entire time. 

The Charleston earthquake is unique in having stricken 
a section where seismic disturbances were unknown. Charles- 
ton lies on a peninsula between the Cooper River, on the 
east, and the Ashley River, on the southwest. 

"At 9.51 P. M.," says an excellent description, "the 
attention of the observer in Charleston was vaguely attracted 
by a sound that seemed to come from the office below, and 
was supposed for a moment to be caused by the rapid roll- 
ing of a heavy body, as an iron safe or a heavily laden truck, 
over the floor. Accompanying the sound there was a per- 
ceptible tremor of the building, not more marked, however, 
than would be caused by the passage of a car or dray along 
the street. For perhaps two or three seconds the occurrence 
excited no surprise or comment. Then by swift degrees, 
or all at once — it is difficult to say which — the sound deep- 
ened in volume, the tremor became more decided, the ear 
caught the rattle of window sashes, gas fixtures, and other 
movable objects; the men in the office glanced hurriedly at 
each other and sprang to their feet — and then all was be- 
wilderment and confusion. 

"The long roll deepened and spread into an awful roar, 
that seemed to pervade at once the troubled earth and 
the still air above and around. The tremor was now a rude, 
rapid quiver, that agitated the whole lofty, strong-walled 
building as though it were being shaken — shaken by the 
hand of an immeasurable power, with intent to tear its 
joints asunder and scatter its stones and bricks abroad. 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 349 

There was no intermission in the vibration — from the first 
to the last it was a continuous jar, adding force with 
every moment, and, as it approached and reached the climax 
of its manifestation, it seemed for a few terrible seconds 
that no work of human hands could possibly survive the 
shocks. The floors were heaving underfoot, the surround- 
ing walls and partitions visibly swayed to and fro, the 
crash of falling masses of stone and brick and mortar was 
heard overhead and without. 

"For a second or two it seemed that the worst had 
passed, and that the violent motion was subsiding. It 
increased again and became as severe as before. None 
expected to escape. A sudden rush was simultaneously 
made to endeavor to attain the open air and fly to a place 
of safety; but before the door was reached all stopped 
short, as by a common impulse, feeling that hope was vain— 
that it was only a question of death within the building 
or without, of being buried beneath the sinking roof or 
crushed by the falling walls. The uproar slowly died away 
in seeming distance. The earth was still, and Oh! the 
blessed relief of that stillness." 

The Charleston quake was divided into five phases. 
Preliminary tremors and murmuring sounds Tasted about 
twelve seconds, and, although they increased in strength, 
they were succeeded somewhat suddenly by the violent oscil- 
lations of the second phase, followed by a third phase of 
much less intensity, and a fourth of stronger oscillations, 
lasting about fifty seconds. The fifth phase, in which the 
tremors died out rapidly, continued about eight seconds, 
so that the total duration of the earthquake was not less 
than seventy seconds. 

Many persons in the vicinity asserted that they saw 
waves moving along the surface of the ground. A Charles- 



350 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

ton resident, describing this phenomenon, said : "The vibra- 
tions increased rapidly and the ground began to undulate 
like the sea. The street was well lighted, having three 
*gas lamps within a distance of 200 feet, and I could see 
the earth waves distinctly. They seemed to come from 
both southwest and northwest, and crossed the street diag- 
onally, intersecting each other, lifting me up and letting me 
down as if I were standing on a chop sea. I could see 
perfectly, and made careful observations, and I estimate 
that the waves were at least two feet in height." 

EARTH TREMORS OF CALIFORNIA. 

According to Professor E. S. Holden's catalogue of 
California earthquakes, covering the years between 1769 
and 1896, ten of the earthquakes of the nineteenth century 
were sufficiently serious to crack the walls of buildings 
and discourage the erection of high and fireproof brick and 
stone buildings, thus always laying the city more liable to 
destruction in case of fire. 

In the thirty-six years between 1850 and 1886 there 
were in San Francisco alone 254 separate light seismic 
disturbances, and in the same time in the entire State 
there were 514 tremors. A very severe shakeup was on 
October 8, 1865, when the tremor cracked the walls of many 
buildings, and so frightened the people that a lot of pioneer 
families left the city and State. The weird murmur and the 
clattering of loose objects on the earth that go with earth 
tremors have since become familiar things to San Fran- 
ciscans. 

A very severe shock in 1852 destroyed one of the an- 
cient and picturesque misions of the Franciscan Fathers 
in Southern California. It was felt in San Francisco, but 
it did little damage there. 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 35 1 

On March 26 and 27, 1872, there was a series of vio- 
lent shocks in the Inyo Valley, which destroyed several 
small towns and killed some thirty persons. The disturb- 
ance was felt in San Francisco, where the usual cracking 
of building walls accompanied the quiver. Great damage 
was done the Lick House, a well-known hotel. 

A shock in 1898 did much damage in San Francisco, 
though it did not cause any loss of life. It began at 11.43 
on the morning of March 31. Houses were shaken to 
their foundations, and even the old residents who were used 
to the ordinary tremors were excited. A tidal wave ac- 
companying the shock rolled in from the bay to wreck 
small boats and parts of the docks. The city was cut off 
from telepraphic communication for several hours. Since 
that time no buildings more than two stories in height have 
been erected on the Government reservation on Mare Island, 
for the seismic disturbance of 1898 did over $150,000 
damage to the naval station there. 

This shock was felt in Central and Northern Cali- 
fornia. Serious damage was done in three or four small 
interior towns, where fires started. The tremor of 1898 
is said to have been the severest San Francisco ever ex- 
perienced, and it was counted remarkable that no lives 
were lost. 

RESIDENTS USED TO SHOCKS. 

Little news comes out of San Francisco about the 
ordinary and frequent tremors or "temblores," as they are 
called, for it is not good business for the city. Strangers 
sojourning there are sometimes alarmed by the quivering 
of the earth that makes gas fixtures clatter and the bed 
shake, but the old San Franciscan will always count such 



352 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

things as nothing, pooh-poohing the idea of danger. Often 
a stranger who sees usually stable things about him cut- 
ting up is told that blasting just outside the city is respon- 
sible for the shock. In most cases it is some slight seismic 
disturbance that is responsible. 

The City Hall in San Francisco was one of the very 
finest buildings in the city, and the people are proud of 
it. It cost $7,000,000. One Sunday, not long ago, it was 
noticed that the peak of one of the twin towers had been 
jarred from its base. It was denied that seismic disturb- 
ances had caused it, but the popular idea laid it all to the 
"temblores." 

San Francisco seems to be always the subject for 
either very sudden evil fortune or very sudden good for- 
tnne. In 1849 ner population as about 20,000. It had 
just sprung up into a somewhat big city for those days 
and that section of the country, following the discovery 
of gold in her neighborhood. Like a mushroom it had 
grown, coming up almost in a night from a little village 
that was almost a century old. 

THE FIRST BIG FIRE. 

While the city was experiencing the first influx of 
good fortune there came the first big fire, in 1849. All 
the buildings on Kearny Street, between Washington and 
Clay, were swept away. The loss was $1,000,000, which 
was big for a city of its size. Lumber and labor were hard 
to get. The wages for laborers went up as much as $8 
or even $16 a day. 

But in spite of the difficulties, San Francisco built up 
her burned district with even better houses than had been 
there before. Then the next year, on May 4, 1850, three 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 353 

whole blocks were eaten up by the flames. Two of them 
were between Clay, Jackson, Kearny, and Montgomery 
Streets. The other one was bounded by Washington, 
Kearny, Jackson, and Dupont Streets. Parts of other 
blocks were burned. The loss this time was $3,000,000. 

In a perfect frenzy the San Franciscans began to re- 
build. Six weeks later, on June 14, a fire swept away 
everything bounded by Clay, California and Kearny Streets 
and the water front. Again the loss was $3,000,000. 
Nevertheless, rebuilding was begun at once, the effort al- 
ways being to put up better houses than had burned down. 
In the last two fires the merchants had suffered heavily. 
Piles of goods lay about on the streets and much of it 
was stolen. The harbor was filled with old hulks that were 
used to store away the goods that had been dragged from 
the burning buildings. 

The next year, on the anniversary of the fire of May 
4,. flames swept over the entire business section of the city, 
burning what had escaped former fires and what had been 
built since they devastated San Francisco. The damage 
this time was $7,000,000. More than 1,500 houses were 
destroyed, and many persons were killed. Workmen con- 
nected with two of the several brick stores remained inside 
their walls to protect the goods. They perished. 

SIXTEEN BLOCKS BURNED. 

The flames raged over sixteen blocks, ten being 
bounded by Pine, Jackson, Kearny, and Sansome Streets; 
five by Sansome, Battery, and Sacramento Streets and 
Broadway, and one by Kearny, Montgomery, Washing- 
ton, and Jackson Streets. The Custom House and the old 
Jenny Lind Theatre were destroyed.. A man suspected of 



354 san francisco's great disaster. 

having set the fire was beaten to death in the sight of the 
flames he was supposed to have started. A Vigilance 
Committee took charge of the city. The harbor was filled 
with still more hulks that were brought from anywhere 
to hold the goods of the merchants. San Francisco was 
more a city of the water than of the land. 

But San Francisco was not done with fires for even 
a breathing spell. A few weeks later, June 22, eight 
more blocks went to ashes. There wasn't much to San 
Francisco then but a few little houses on the outskirts 
of what had been the city and a motley collection of hulks 
that choked the harbor. 

One reason why the fires had been so disastrous was 
that the buildings were of wood. As the city built up 
after that finer and more substantial buildings took the 
place of those that had been destroyed, but always the 
thought of earth tremors influenced builders to put up 
frame structures. 

LAST PREVIOUS EARTHQUAKE. 

The last earthquake that occurred in San Francisco 
before that of April 18, was about the middle of January, 
1900. Several distinct shocks were felt early in the morn- 
ing, causing the vibration of buildings all over the city. 
The chief building affected was the St. Nicholas Hotel, 
which was severely shaken. The walls collapsed in parts 
of the structure, patrons were thrown out of their beds, 
and furniture was destroyed. 

In 1904, there was a severe seismic disturbance in 
Los Angeles, which was felt throughout that city and miles 
around. No actual damage was done, but this was the 
most severe shock that had ever been felt in Southern 
California. 



SCIENCE BAFFLED BY THE PHENOMENON 

Science is baffled by the phenomenon popularly de- 
scribed as "earthquake." Tremendous strides have been 
made in the past half century in inquiry into every realm 
of nature, but here there has been little progress. Wonder- 
ful advances have been made in the instruments with 
which earth tremors are measured and many have expressed 
the hope that in some future day a process will be devel- 
oped by which warning can be given that such disturbances 
are imminent. But the day, so far as the achievements of 
the present are concerned, is far in the future. Every 
demonstration of this kind, now, is carefully studied in the 
light of experience and from the visible records made by 
the seismograph. The national government will direct 
the study of the San Francisco disturbance. It is expected 
that valuable results will be achieved, since this is the most 
severe shock known to have taken place on this continent. 
The fissures in the earth, uplifts and depression, the direc- 
tion of the waves, the geology underlying the affected 
region, these, and a hundred considerations enter into the 
study. Nothing will be overlooked that may be counted on 
to throw any light on the general subject. The ambition of 
scientists engaged in the study of seismic disturbances is 
to perfect a system of earthquake warning. If this can 
be accomplished it will take a place among the greatest 
boons given by science to the human family. If the San 
Francisco disaster brings the realization of this dream 
nearer, it will have served a vast purpose. 

For the present there is little in text books beyond 
theories and opinions. The newest catastrophe has brought 
out a new stock of these, and this chronicle would not be 

355 



356 san francisco's great disaster. 

complete without mention of some at least of these. These 
will be the sign posts, marking where science stood when 
San Francisco was stricken. It may mark the starting point 
for a new era of knowledge that shall supersede mere theory 
and speculation. 

EXPECTS TO PREDICT SHOCKS. 

Dr. C. Willard, Geologist of the United States Geo- 
logtical Survey, believes that the time will come when 
scientists would be able to predict an earthquake sufficiently 
in advance of its occurrence to give warning to persons 
likely to be caught by it, 

"Of course, I do not say that it will come soon," said 
Dr. Hayes, "but I see nothing improbable in the idea at all. 
I think it is largely a matter of having a sufficient number 
of properly equipped observation stations, with prompt and 
thorough exchange of observations. Earthquakes are al- 
most invariably preceded by premonitory signs and symp- 
toms. These are now recognized and recorded. But there 
are not enough observers engaged in the work to make 
their records and observations of practical benefit in the 
way I have indicated. 

"Fifty years ago the idea that it would be possible to 
predict a storm would have been regarded as preposterous. 
But with the increase of the number of weather observers, 
and the development of the instruments, they have reached 
the stage of practical certainty, and the service has become 
of immense value throughout the world. Of course, they 
have had a great deal more weather to observe than the ge- 
ologists have had earthquakes, and the scope and thorough- 
ness of their observations have developed more rapidly 
than in the case of seismic disturbances. But I see no rea- 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 359 

son why, with a proper extension of the field of observations, 
and the proper equipment of the observers, there should not 
result, in a comparatively few years, substantially the ability 
to foretell, for an appreciable period of time, the occurrence 
of serious earthquakes. 

In discussing the shocks which devastated San Fran- 
cisco, Dr. Hayes said that the ultimate cause was undoubt- 
edly "a deep readjustment" of the earth, manifesting itself 
upon the surface by a slip along the line of a fault. These 
faults occur at various places upon the earth's crust, and are 
similar to those found in ore or coal veins, except that their 
scale is thousands of feet compared to inches in the mine 
scale. When, for any cause, a deep readjustment takes place 
the surface effect usually follows the line of a fault. 

"This is the greatest problem," he said, " or one of the 
great problems that we are studying all the time. We know 
that certain parts of the earth are slowly going down and 
other parts are rising. That has been going on in Califor- 
nia. Only yesterday, speaking geologically, the coast line 
of California was lifted up to a considerable extent. The 
traces of the old beach line are easy to follow, and the fact 
that the line has been lifted to different heights at different 
places, and that in places it lies at an angle, and not hori- 
zontally, shows that it was lifted, and that it was not the 
receding of the water which left it there." 

"It may be," said Dr. Hayes, " that a slip occurred 
somewhere at the upper, or northern, end of one of these 
faults, and, following down to the southeast, produced the 
shock that destroyed San Francisco and wrecked Palo Alto 
buildings." 

NO CONNECTION WITH VESUVIUS. 

"If there was any connection between the eruptions 



360 san francisco's great disaster. 

of Vesuvius and the Causasus and Canary Island earth- 
quakes," said Professor James F. Kemp, who occupies the 
chair of geology at Columbia University, "other places in 
all probability would have suffered, too. New York, for in- 
stance, is on the same parallel as all these places. While 
I would not deliver an absolute opinion, to my mind these 
disturbances have nothing to do with the California earth- 
quake. 

"The California coast is a place where earthquakes 
of more or less violence are frequent. The Pacific Coast 
line is one of the latest additions to our continent. Con- 
ditions there are absolutely unsettled; it is still in the mak- 
ing. The coast is very abrupt. It has few good harbors 
and is very mountainous. It is a more unstable country 
than any other part of the United States. 

"The present earthquake in all probability was started 
by a slipping along some fault line, as we call it, in the in- 
terior of the earth. A fault line is a line where two or more 
geological deposits from the same or different formative 
periods meet. Accelerated by one cause or another, these 
deposits slip apart and create a rift. There is a consequent 
adjustment of the crust of the earth to the new conditions 
in the interior, and this generally is the cause of an earth- 
quake. Fault lines are very common in the mountainous 
country of California." 

Professor Kemp said he thought the earthquake in 
California was not of volcanic origin, and therefore had 
no connection with the great upheavals that have occurred 
from time to time in Central America and the northern part 
of South America. "The outer portion of the earth," he 
said, "from time to time adjusts itself to interior conditions. 
No exact theory for these adjustments has been formulated, 
but two or three suggestions have been advanced as to the 



san francisco's great disaster. 361 

causes. Some think that the adjustments are due to the 
earth radiating and a consequent shrinkage in the interior. 

ROTATION OF THE EARTH. 

''Others believe that they are due to the fact that the 
earth is gradually slowing up in its rotations, causing a 
flattening at the poles and a swelling at the equator, and the 
crust of the earth is readjusting itself to this new shape. 

Our mountain ranges provide the lines of upheaval in 
these occasional readjustments. The vibration of a slip- 
ping in the bowels of the earth naturally will extend over 
a certain territory, the vibrations weakening in proportion 
to the distance from the centre. 

"The entire Pacific Coast region has been formed by 
some violent upheaval at a time prehistoric even as geo- 
logical periods go. The surface of the Pacific in those past 
ages must have been much higher than its present level. 
YVe know this, because we still can discover the traces of 
beaches on the bluffs far above the sea. There has been 
no rising of the North American continent south of Alaska 
since it became the home of the white man. South Amer- 
ica has been raised within the last century or so. There 
we can still find shellfish clinging to the rocks far above the 
sea. 

The last change of some note that occurred on the 
North American continent was about five years ago when 
a section of Alaska about the Muir Glacier was hoisted 
considerably by a seismic upheaval. 

PROF. HOVEY'S VIEWS. 

Prof. Edmund Otis Hovey, Fellow of the American 
Geological Society and Associate Curator of the Geologi- 



362 san francisco's great disaster. 

cal Department of the American Museum of Natural His- 
tory, who visited Martinique after the recent eruption of 
Mont Pelee and Soufriere, said: 

"All the Pacific Coast is comparatively new territory. 
Frequent seismic disturbances occur there owing to the 
fact that the mountain-building forces constantly are at 
work in this territory. Volcanic and seismic disturbances 
only mark the efforts of rigid crust of the earth to con- 
form to the contractions due to loss of heat beneath the 
surface of the earth. 

"San Francisco stands on ground the foundations of 
which were formed by ancient volcanoes. These volcanoes 
date from such ancient ages that there are several other 
geological formations on top of them and the volcanoes 
are deep down below the surface of the earth. 

"I hardly believe that this earthquake is of volcanic 
origin. I would not be too positive. The nearest volcano 
to San Francisco is Mount Shasta. This is about 250 miles 
north of the Golden Gate, and has been extinct for cen- 
turies. Mount St. Helena, 300 miles north, dominatiing 
a part of Northern California and Southern Oregon, was in 
eruption about sixty years ago. Several small volcanoes 
in Northern California have been active in the last 100 
years. We have little positive or first-hand knowledge of 
these eruptions, and know of them only through later ob- 
servations, because the region where they are situated was 
not inhabited by white men while they were active. 

This disturbance possibly may be less severe, as far as 
its effect on the surface of the earth is concerned, than 
some of those which have preceded it. It did more damage 
merely because it happened to strike San Francisco." 

"These earthquakes very seldom occur in rapid suc- 
cession. The most destructive earthquake recorded here 



san francisco's great disaster. 363 

in the last century was the one at Charleston in 1886, but 
the most extensive was the one that occurred in 1812, and 
which is known as the New Madrid earthquake, because it 
extended south from that town, following the bottom of 
the Mississippi River. It created great changes in the sur- 
face of the earth, forming a lake seventy-five miles long. 

"Such disturbances are likely to occur as long as there 
is any shrinkage under the surface, and that will go on 
until the subterranean strata have settled and all tension 
has been relieved." 

According to Prof. Hovey, a German scientist who 
for years has been experimenting to trace a possible con- 
nection between barometric pressure and seismic distur- 
bances following the mine explosion at Les Courrieres pre- 
dicted a series of seismic and volcanic upheavals. 

"It seems as though the prediction of the German 
scientist has been verified, though I won't go so far as to 
say that his theory, however interesting, has been vindi- 
cated," said Prof. Hovey 

PROF. BERKEY'S OPINION. 

Professor Berkey of the Department of Geology at 
Columbia University said: 

"There is no possible connection between the eruption 
of Mount Vesuvius and the earthquake at San Francisco. 
Earthquakes are not necessarily of volcanic origin. The 
earth's crust in cooling contracts and often contracts un- 
evenly, so as to cause the strata to slide. Such a sliding 
may have caused the San Francisco earthquake. 

"Some scientists hold that volcanic eruptions are 
caused by a percolation of water from the sea into the 
heated parts of volcanoes and that the steam thus gener- 



364 san francisco's great disaster. 

ated starts the eruption. According to the theory now 
generally accepted by scientists, however, volcanic erup- 
tions are caused by steam, but not from water percolating 
from the sea, but from contact of the molten matter with 
underground masses of water. Volcanoes thus become 
the safety valves of the earth." 

Prof. William Hallock of the Department of Physics 
at Columbia holds with Prof. Berkey that a "sliding" had 
caused the earthquake in San Francisco. 

MANY PACIFIC SHOCKS. 

From a perusal of the bulletins of the United States 
Department of Geological Survey, it would appear that 
earthquakes, though of very moderate violence, have been 
of frequent occurrence in California and along the Pacific 
slope. The record for 1896 shows fifty-five such distur- 
bances. In 1897 not fewer than eighty earthquakes are 
recorded. In 1898 there were twenty-four. 

An odd circumstance manifest from the perusal of 
these records is that there are more earthquakes in March, 
April, May and June than in other months of the year. In 
recent years the most severe earthquake occurred on 
March 30, 1898. This disturbance did more damage to 
property than any one that had occurred since the very 
destructive one of April, 1892. 

The earthquake of 1898 extended to Vallejo and 
Benicia, but caused most destruction in the Mare Island 
Navy Yard. It lasted only forty seconds, but in that space 
of time destroyed nearly half a million dollars worth of 
machinery at the Navy Yard. Only one San Francisco 
building, that at 445 Clementina street, was destroyed, but 
several were damaged. 



san francisco's great disaster. 365 

Geologists agree that in the north of California, in what 
is known as the Lassen Peak district, between the Sacra- 
mento Valley and the Great Basin and adjoining the north- 
ern end of the Sierra Nevada, there is a region sixty-nine 
miles long and fifty-three miles wide in which the presence 
of numerous hot springs shows volcanic activity in the 
bowels of the earth. Throughout this district there is a 
belt of volcanic cones some twenty-five miles wide and fifty 
miles long, which recently has aroused the interest of scien 
lists. Prof. Kemp of Columbia said that he did not believe 
that there was any connection between the possible activi- 
ties of this chain of volcanoes and the San Francisco earth- 
quake. The latest eruption in this region, he said, occurred 
some 200 years ago, when the Cinder Cone, near the centre 
of the district, had a violent outbreak, the latest of note in 
the North American Continent south of Alaska. Dense 
forests have since grown up in this district on a seven-foot 
layer of volcanic sand that was scattered all over the district 
and destroyed all vegetation. 

AN OPEN QUESTION. 

In spite of the declarations of some scientists that there 
can be no possible connection between the eruption of 
Mount Vesuvius and the earthquake at San Francisco, 
others are inclined to view certain facts in regard to recent 
seismic and volcanic activity as, to say the least, suggestive. 

In March there was a severe earthquake in the Island 
of Formosa, and many lives were lost, while an enormous 
amount of damage was done. A few days before the San 
Francisco shock there was another earthquake in the same 
island. Still greater havoc was caused by it than by the 
earthquake in March, but fewer lives were lost, so far as is 
known at present, the reason being that the people were 
warned in time. 



366 san francisco's great disaster. 

Ten days before this disaster the eruption of Mount 
Vesuvius reached its height and devastated the coun- 
try around the volcano, covering an enormous territory 
with ashes, and caused the loss of hundreds of lives. 

On Tuesday night, April 17, word was received from 
Piatigorsk, Ciscaucasia, that there had been two severe 
earthquake shocks the previous day in Northern Caucasia. 

The same night a telegram from Madrid said that the 
newspapers there reported that the long-dormant volcano 
on Palma, the largest of the Canary Islands, was showing 
signs of eruption, columns of smoke issuing from the crater. 

There is one very remarkable circumstance in regard 
to all this activity. All the places mentioned — Formosa, 
Southern Italy, Caucasia, and the Canary Islands — lie with- 
in a belt bounded by lines a little north of the fortieth 
parallel and a little south of the thirtieth parallel. San 
Francisco is just south of the fortieth parallel, while Naples 
is just north of it. The latitude of Calabria, where the ter- 
rible earthquakes occurred in 1905, is the same as that of 
the territory affected by the earthquake in the United 
States. 

There is another coincidence which may be only a 
coincidence, but which is also suggestive. The last pre- 
vious great eruption of Vesuvius was in 1872, and the same 
year saw the last previous earthquake in California which 
caused loss of life. 

Prof. W. H. Pickering of the Harvard Observatory, 
says : 

"There is no evidence that the disturbance on the 
Pacific Coast is the result of any volcanic action, or that it 
is in any way connected with the disturbances in other parts 
of the world. 

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san francisco's great disaster. 369 

the disturbance extends only within a limited area, not 
more than a hundred miles or so. These are short and 
very violent. For this reason the disturbance's of Mount 
Ranier in Washington State probably had no relation with 
that at San Francisco, as it is too far away. 

Earthquakes of the kind occurring at San Francisco 
are caused by the slipping of strata at the ocean bed. This 
is very probably the cause of the present disaster. 

"The slope from the shore to the bed of the ocean is 
very steep. This rests directly on the bed of the ocean, and, 
as frequently occurs, cracks form at the junction. The re- 
sult is a slipping of the whole formation to fill up the gap. 

'This may occur at once or some time later. When it 
does slip, the effect is felt in an earthquake on the nearest 
shore. This is what has occurred at San Francisco. 

"Such occurrences are more frequent on the Pacific 
Coast than on the Atlantic, for the simple reason that the 
slope is much steeper there. Japan suffers frequently for 
this reason, and South America frequently sees such dis- 
turbances." 



HOW EARTHQUAKES ARE RECORDED. 

Scientists in all parts. of the world are studying every 
phase of natural phenomena, and among them none has 
greater interest, or is more baffling than the earthquake. 
The greatest stride ever made in this respect was the inven- 
tion of the seismograph, the delicate instrument by which 
are measured the vibrations of the surface of the earth, re- 
sulting from earthquake shocks. This, to be sure, has no 
value in a premonitory sense. The seismograph gives no 
hint of the approach of this destroyer; it merely records the 
extent and duration of the shock or series of shocks. The 
mighty throes of the Pacific Coast, when San Francisco 
met her doom, was recorded wherever the slightest tremor 
reached a seismograph. The instruments are costly and 
are only in possession of a limited number of universities 
and government observatories. In the great seismographic 
division of the United States Weather Bureau at Washing- 
ton, center of study, in America, of this branch of science, 
the delicate instruments there recorded every pulse of the 
California quake. The records, as they are made by the 
seismograph are one of the chief reliances of scientists in 
their efforts to solve the earthquake problem. Local evi- 
dences, too, including changes in the contour of the earth, 
fissures, the nature of the geological formations in the im- 
mediate vicinity of the center of the disturbance, and other 
features, largely visible, will aid. The opinion of scientific 
men is divided on the question whether any appreciable ad- 
vance will ever be made toward ability to predict seismic 
disturbances. Most of nature's activities, even the most 
erratic, follow immutable laws, and a few investigators 
cling to the hope that even the earthquake obeys some in- 

37o 



san francisco's great disaster. V7X 

violable principle; results from causes not beyond human 
ken, and these earnestly pursue their studies. 

The "earthquake" division of the Weather Bureau, 
mentioned above, is in charge of Professor C. F. Marvin, 
one of America's greatest authorities on seismic topics. 

On one of the weather bureau seismographs was made 
a complete record of the great earth wave which brought 
death and ruin to the fair city of San Francisco. 

The delicate needle of the seismograph had been trac- 
ing long, straight white lines on the gelatined surface of 
the record sheet Wednesday morning, when it suddenly be- 
came agitated at 8 o'clock, 19 minutes and 20 seconds, 
and began to make more or less elongated waves. At 
8.25 o'clock the strong waves began, and the recording 
needle moved rapidly back and forth across the sheet. 
Then followed the most violent waves between 8.32 and 
8.35 o'clock, 75th meridian time, as is shown by the record. 
At one time the motion of the needle was so vigorous that 
its point went off the sheet, which is kept in motion by a 
clock machine, and the point did not return to the sheet 
until there was a secondary lull in the great disturbance. 
Then, when the needle had resumed its tracings, the earth 
vibrations and waves continued until 12.35, when the agi- 
tations ceased. 

Each of the lines on the record sheet represents an hour 
of time, the movement of the sheet keeping time with the 
tick of the connected clock. The units of time are marked 
on this sheet, which is covered with gelatine, and thus the 
observer is enabled to tell just when the earthquakes began 
and when they ended by the markings made by the needle 
point. 

The seismograph which Prof. Willis L. Moore, chief 
of the weather bureau, has installed in his department is 



372 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

said to be one of the best in the world. It is installed in 
a basement apartment away under the weather bureau 
building, far removed from the noisy hurly-burly of the 
streets, and is practically a mechanical recluse, only Prof. 
Marvi and the immediate observers being allowed to invade 
the sanctity of its subterranean home. For purposes of 
exhibition and explanation a duplicate seismograph is set 
up in a room adjoining the office of Prof. Marvin. 

The weather bureau requires its observers to take care- 
ful note of earthquake phenomena of sufficient intensity 
to be felt at stations, but no specific effort has been made 
to provide generally the instrumental means by which such 
phenomena could be automatically recorded and measured. 
The central office at Washington has, however, maintained 
a simple form of seismograph in operation ever since De- 
cember, 1892, and about three years ago greatly improved 
its equipment by the installation of one of the large hori- 
zontal pendulums made by J. & A. Bosch, of Strassburg, 
and designed after the models of Omori. 

OF A SUPERIOR TYPE. 

This instrument is of a very superior type and gives 
an accurate record of the movement of the earth at the pen- 
dulum in the horizontal plane. At the present time, but 
one of the two pendulums constituting the set has been 
installed and this produces a record of the north and south 
component of horizontal motion. 

The mechanical principles involved in the construction 
of a seismograph of this type were first developed and ap- 
plied to the measurement of earthquakes in the lat- 
ter part of 1880 by James A. Ewing, then profes- 
sor of mechanical engineering at the 'University of 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 7>73 

Tokio, but now professor of mechanism and applied me- 
chanics at the University of Cambridge, England. Numer- 
ous modifications have since been incorporated in the in- 
strument by Gray, Omori and others, and in its present 
form it is veil adapted to measure and record all kinds 
of earthquakes, except, perhaps, the most destructive, and 
is especially suited to register the feeble, unfelt earthquakes 
which frequently occur in all parts of the world. 

The instrument in the basement room of the weather 
bureau is installed on separate castings secured to thick 
blocks of stone cemented firmly into the concrete floor of 
the building and projecting but a few inches above the 
floor level. The foundation of the instrument is separate 
from the building, being far down in the earth so that it 
will not be affected by artificial disturbances. 

The extreme sensitiveness to tilting is exhibited in 
several ways. The weight of the observer almost anywhere 
on the floor of the small room in which the instrument is 
installed suffices to tilt the pendulum enough to show on 
the record. A large displacement is produced by standing at 
one side of the pedestal. It has been noticed also that the 
weight of an ice wagon which stops daily to deliver ice 
at a basement entrance to the building causes a definite 
displacement of the trace of about one millimeter, which dis- 
appears when the wagon drives away. There are no vibra- 
tions or oscillations registered, only a distinct elastic bend- 
ing of the ground due to the load. This motion, more- 
over is communicated through the foundation walls of the 
building. The distance of the wagon from the seismograph 
is about twenty feet; the asphalted drive and the basement 
floor are on the same level. The subsoil is a hard clay. 

It may be added that the road is a private driveway 



374 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

back of the building and is rarely used, so that the effects 
and disturbances of the record due to its proximity are not 
regarded as interfering in the least with the validity of earth- 
quake records. 

"Aside from transitory tiltings of the ground of the kind 
just discussed, others of a more gradual character are also 
observed. If the pendulum were to remain absolutely 
stationary during twenty-four hours the record sheet 
would contain twenty-four straight parallel lines quite ac- 
curately spaced three millimeters apart. 

A PROGRESSIVE TILTING. 

The spacings are never exact, but are sometimes quite 
uniform. Generally, however, there is a distinct and pro- 
gressive widening or narrowing of the spacings across the 
sheet, showing that a slow, progressive tilting of the col- 
umn or the ground has been in progress during the twenty- 
four hours in question. While some of these displacements 
must be attributed to temperature changes and effects en- 
tirely within the instrument, yet slow tiltings of the ground 
also occur, due to a variety of causes. The seismograph, 
as now installed, answers every purpose for the registra- 
tion of distinctively earthquake movements, but the slow 
tilting referred to cannot be studied satisfactorily in the 
present location of the apparatus, which for such purposes 
should be isolated as far as practicable. 

The earthquake wave recorded here, at such a long 
distance from the real seat of trouble, was in the nature of 
a long, regular motion, like a sea wave. The motion at 
San Francisco was quick and sudden, and therefore very 
destructive. This violent agitation produced destructive 
strains, with the tendency to shake buildings to pieces, 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 375 

whereas at a distance where the movement of the earth is 
slow and regular all portions of the building may follow 
the motion of the ground. Prof. Marvin said, in illustra- 
tion, that the passing of a rapidly moving railroad train 
produces a vibration of the earth similar to that produced 
at the place where an earthquake is causing destruction, 
only in greatly reduced magnitude. 

MANY USES FOR SEISMOGRAPH. 

One of the scientific purposes served by the use of the 
seismograph is to throw light on the internal condition of 
the earth — as to whether it is solid or liquid, or, if solid, 
whether it is uniform or varying in constitution at different 
depths or at different parts. 

Among other uses the seismograph can afford in- 
formation as to causes likely to interfere with submarine 
cables. There have been instances of such interference 
which, if it had not been for the seismograph, would have 
been regarded as acts of war — the work of foreign enemies. 
The instrument of course cannot be supposed to afford 
absolute proof in such cases, for a cable might be broken 
through some natural cause other than a local seismic dis- 
turbance." 

At the Kew Observatory the instrument now in use 
was set up in 1898, being similar to the one Prof Milne had 
in use for some time at Shide, in the Isle of Wight. During 
the past eight years it has recorded over 600 earth tremors, 
including most of the larger disturbances which have been 
experienced in any part of the earth since 1898 — for in- 
stance, the great earthquake in Nicaragua and the disturb- 
ance due to the eruption of Mont Pelee, which led to the 
destruction of St. Pierre, in the Island of Martinique, and 



376 san francisco's great disaster. 

the earthquake which took place on Jan. 31, on the same 
coast line as the calamity in Colombia. The records show 
that the disturbance of Jan. 31 began at 3.45 P. M. and 
continued until after 6.30. 

The records are made in this way: A horizontal rod, 
or boom, pivoted at one end, supported by a cord and capa- 
ble of swinging horizontally, is erected at the basement of 
the observatory on a pier which passes through the floor 
and rests on a concrete bed. The boom has at the free 
end a rectangular plate, with a minute perforation 
in the centre. A small gas jet is constantly burning over 
the perforated plate, and sends light through the perfora- 
tion and past the edges of the plate, falling on bromide of 
silver photographic paper. The sensitized paper passes be- 
low the plate at a uniform rate controlled by clockwork. 
When the boom is at rest there appears upon the strip of 
paper a thin, straight line, (representing the light which 
has passed through the perforation,) and black bands repre- 
senting the light which has passed over the edges of the 
plate. In the event of a seismic disturbance the plate oscil- 
lates, and the original narrow straight line widens out, 
forming a globe-shaped outline according to the amplitude 
of the vibrations, while corresponding indents are shown 
on the edges of the paper. 

The exact situation of a disturbance is ascertained by 
comparing the time at which corresponding observations 
are made at other observatories. At each half hour a small 
hand comes in front of the light, and interrupts it at one of 
the margins of the sensitized paper. Should there be a dis- 
turbance, in the neighborhood of Mont Pelee, the earliest 
movement would be recorded at Kew before it would reach 
St. Petersburg; whereas, if it originated in Central Siberia, 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 377 

the earliest records at St. Petersburg would precede those 
at Kew. 

In England there are seismographs at Shide, Bidston, 
and Liverpool, and another in Edinburgh. The great earth- 
quakes originate in the Japan area, in Central America, 
and up in Alaska. It is supposed that the sea deepens very 
abruptly off the Japanese coast, and in that region there are 
rapid changes in the stresses to which the crust of the earth 
is exposed. Further, wherever there are volcanoes earth- 
quakes are liable to take place. 

In Japan there are numerous seismographic observa- 
tories, and in Italy as well. It is important to have them in 
those countries, particularly in Japan where such tremen- 
dous havoc is wrought by earthquakes from time to time. 



CALIFORNIA, LAND OF GOLD AND ROMANCE. 

California, the State which has been so sorely stricken 
by Providence, has a history replete with the picturesque 
and romantic, the grim and tragic. If now the hand of 
affliction is laid upon her by nature, the story abounds in 
lavish generosity, from that same nature. California has a 
wider range of climate than any State in the Union; pro- 
duces a greater variety of fruits of the soif; enjoys benign 
influences from Pacific breezes, and boasts rich veins of 
every mineral, except coal. The heavens, the earth, the 
kingdoms under the earth pay tribute to the State which 
sets watch at the Golden Gate. 

The settlements of the Spanish missionaries within the 
present limits of the State of California date from the first 
foundation of San Diego, in 1769. The missions that were 
later founded north of San Diego were, with the original 
establishment itself, for a time known merely by soma col- 
lective name, such as the Northern Missions. But later 
the name California, already long since applied to the 
country of the peninsular missions to the southward, was 
extended to the new land, with various prefixes or qualify- 
ing phrases; and out of these the definite name Alta (or 
Upper) California at last came, being applied to our present 
country during the whole period of the Mexican Republi- 
can ownership. As to the origin of the name California, 
no serious question remains that this name, as first applied, 
between 1535 and 1539 to a portion of Lower California, 
was derived from an old printed romance, the one which 
Mr. Edward Everett Hale rediscovered in 1862, and from 
which he drew his now accepted conclusion 



san Francisco's great disaster. 379 

For, in this romance, the name California was already 
before 1520 applied to a fabulous island, described as near 
the Indies, and also "very near the Terrestrial Paradise." 
Colonists whom Cortes brought to the newly discovered 
peninsula in 1535, and who returned the next year, may 
have been the first to apply the name to this supposed island, 
en which they had been for a time resident. The coast of 
Upper California was first visited during the voyage of the 
explorer Juan Cabrillo in 1542-43. Several landings were 
then made on the coast and on the islands, in the Santa 
Barbara region * * *. In 1579, Drake's famous visit took 
place * * *. It is * * * almost perfectly sure that he did 
not enter or observe the Golden Gate, and that he got no 
sort of idea of the existence of the Great Bay * * * This 
result of the examination of the evidence about Drake's 
voyage is now fairly well accepted, although some people, 
will always try to insist that Drake discovered our Bay of 
San Francisco. The name San Francisco was probably 
applied to a port on this coast for the first time by Cerme- 
non, who, in a voyage from the Philippines, in 1595, ram 
ashore, while exploring the coast near Point Reyes. It is 
now, however, perfectly sure that neither he nor any other 
Spanish navigator before 1769 applied this name to our 
present bay which remained utterly unknown to Europeans 
during all this period * * *. 

In 1602-3, Sebastian Vizcaino conducted a Spanish 
exploring expedition along the California coast * * *. 
From this voyage a little more knowledge of the character 
of the coast was gained ; and thenceforth geographical 
researches in the region of California ceased for over a 
century and a half. With only this meagre result we reach 
the era of the first settlement of Upper California. 



^Bd san francisco's great disaster. 

The missions of the peninsula of Lower California 
passed, in 1767, by the expulsion of the Jesuits, into the 
hands of the Franciscans; and the Spanish government, 
whose attention was attracted in this direction by the 
changed conditions, ordered the immediate prosecution of 
a long-cherished plan to provide the Manilla ships, on their 
return voyage, with good ports of supply and repairs, and 
to occupy the northwest land- as a safeguard against Rus- 
sian or other aggressions * * *. Thus began the career 
of Spanish discovery and settlement in California. The 
early years show a generally rapid progress, only one great 
disaster occurring — the destruction of San Diego Mission, 
in 1775, by assailing Indians. But this loss was quickly 
repaired. In 1770, the Mission of San Carlos was founded 
at Monterey. In 1772, a land expedition, under Fages and 
Crespi, first explored the eastern shore of our San Franicsco 
Bay, in an effort to reach by land the old Port of San 
Francisco * * *. After 1775, the old name began to be 
generally applied to the new Bay, and so, thenceforth, the 
name Port of San Francisco means what we now mean 
thereby. In 1775, Lieutenant Ayala entered the new har- 
bor by water. In the following year, the Mission at San 
Francisco was founded, and in October its church was dedi- 
cated. Not only missions, however, but pueblos, inhabited 
by Spanish colonists, lay in the official plan of the new 
undertakings. The first of these to be established was San 
Jose, founded in November, 1777. The next was Los 
Angeles, founded in September, 1781. 

BEFORE GOLD WAS DISCOVERED. 

Early in 1846, the Americans in California numbered 
about 200, mostly able-bodied men, and who in their ac- 
cur was universal throughout the territory. This quickened 



san francisco's great disaster. 381 

tiyity, enterprise, and audacity, constituted quite a formid- 
able element in this sparsely, inhabited region. The popiila- 
ton of California at this time was 6,000 Mexicans and 200, 
000 Indians. We now come to a period in the history of 
California that has never been made clear, and respecting 
which there are conflicting statements and opinions. The 
following facts were obtained by careful inquiry of intelli- 
gent parties who lived in California during the period men- 
tioned, and who participated in the scenes narrated. The 
native Californians appear to have entertained no very 
strong affection for their own government, or, rather, they 
felt that under the influences at work they would inevi- 
tably, and at no very distant period, become a dismembered 
branch of the Mexican nation; and the matter was finally 
narrowed clown to this contested point, namely, whether 
this stage surgery should be performed by Americans or 
English, the real struggle being between these two nation- 
alities. In the northern part of the territory, such native 
Californians as the Vallejos, Castros, etc., with the old 
American settlers, Leese, Larkin, and others, sympathized 
with the United States, and desired annexation to the 
American republic. 

In the south, Pio Pico, then governor of the territory, 
and other prominent native Californians, with James 
Alexander Forbes, the English consul, who settled in Santa 
Clara in 1828, were exerting themselves to bring the country 
under English domination. * * * This was the state of 
affairs for two or three years previous to the Mexican War. 
For some months before the news that hostilities between 
the United States and Mexico had commenced, reached 
California, the belief that such an event would certainly oc- 
cur was universal throughout the territory. This quickenel 
the impulses of all parties, and stimulated the two rivals — 



382 san francisco's great disaster. 

the American and English — in their efforts to be the first 
to obtain a permanent hold of the country. The United 
States government had sent Colonel Fremont to the Pacific 
on an exploring expedition. Colonel Fremont had passed 
through California, and was on his way to Oregon, when, 
in March, 1846, Lieutenant Gillespie, of the United States- 
marine service was sent from Washington with dispatches 
to Colonel Fremont. Lieutenant Gillespie went across Mex- 
ico to Mazatlan, and from thence by sea to California. 
He finally overtook Fremont early in June, 1846, a short 
distance on the road to Oregon, and communicated to him 
the purport of his dispatches, they having been committed 
to memory and the papers destroyed before he entered 
Mexico. What these instruction authorized Colonel Fre- 
mont to do has never been promulgated, but it is said they 
directed him to remain in California, and hold himself in 
readiness to cooperate with the United States fleet, in case 
war with Mexico should occur. Fremont immediately re- 
turned to California, and camped a short time on Feather 
River, and then took up his headquarters at Sutter's Fort. 

DECLARED INDEPENDENT. 

A few days after, on Sunday, June 14th, 1 846, a party 
of fourteen Americans, under no apparent command, ap- 
peared in Sonoma, captured the place, raised the Bear flag, 
proclaimed the independence of California, and carried off 
to Fremont's headquarters four prominent citizens, namely, 
the two Vallejos, J. P. Leese, and Colonel Prudhon. On 
the consummation of these achievements, one Merritt was 
elected captain. This was a rough party of revolutionists, 
and the manner in which they improvised the famous Bear 
flag shows upon what slender means nations and kingdoms 



san francisco's great disaster. 383 

are sometimes started. From an estimable old lady thy 
obtained a fragmentary portion of her white skirt, on wlmh 
they painted what was intended to represent a grizzly bear, 
but not being artistic in their work, the Mexicans, with thdr 
usual happy faculty on such occasions, called it the "Ban- 
dera Colchis," or "Hog Flag.'' This flag now ornaments 
the rooms of the Pioneer Society in San Francisco. On 
the 1 8th of June, 1846, William B. Ide, a native of New 
England, who had emigrated to California the year previ- 
ous, issued a proclamation as commander-in-chief of the 
fortress of Sonoma. This proclamation declared the pur- 
pose to overthrow the existing government, and establish 
in its place the republican form. General Castro now pro- 
posed to attack the feebly manned post at Sonoma, but he 
was frustrated by a rapid movement of Fremont, who, on 
the 4th day of July, 1846, called a meeting of Americans 
at Sonoma; and this assembly, acting under his advice, 
proclaimed the independence of the country, appointed 
Fremont, governor and declared war against Mexico. 
During these proceedings at Sonoma, a flag with one star 
floated over the headquarters of Fremont at Sutter's Fort. 
Commodore Montgomery, of the United States sloop-of- 
war Portsmouth, then lying in San Francisco Bay, had, on 
the 8th of July, taken possession of Yerba Buena and raised 
the American flag on the plaza. This, of course, settled 
the business for all parties. The Mexican flag and the 
Bear flag were lowered, and in due time, nolens volens, 
all acquiesced in the flying of the Stars and Stripes. 

"STARS AND STRIPES" UP. 

Commodore Sloat had heard of the commencement of 
hostilities on the Rio Grande, sailed from Mazathn for 



384 san francisco's great disaster. 

California, took possession of the country and raised the 
American flag on his own responsibility. These decisive 
steps, on the part of Commodore Sloat, were not taken 
a moment too soon, as on the 14th of July the British man- 
of-war Collingwood, Sir George Seymour commanding, 
arrived at Monterey, intending, as Sir George acknowl- 
edged, "to take possession of that portion of the country.'' 
In August, Commodore Sloat relinquished the command 
of the Pacific squadron to Commodore Stockton, who im- 
mediately instituted bold and vigorous measures for the 
subjugation of the territory. All his available force for 
land operations was 350 men — sailors and marines. But 
so rapid and skilful were Stockton's movements, and so 
efficient was the cooperation of Fremont with his small 
troop that California was effectually conquered in Jan- 
uary, 1847. During all this period the people of the United 
States were ignorant of what was transpiring in California 
and vice versa. But the action of Commodore Sloat and 
Commodore Stockton did, but anticipate the wishes of the 
government, which had, in June, 1846, despatched Gen- 
eral Kearney across the country from Fort Leavenworth 
at the head of 1,600 men, with orders to conquer Cali- 
fornia and when conquered to assume the governership of 
the territory. General Kearney arrived in California via 
Sam Pasqual with greatly diminished forces in December 
1846, a few weeks before active military operations in 
that region ceased. 

In the summer of 1847, tne American residents of 
California, numbering perhaps 2,000, and mostly estab- 
lished near San Francisco Bay, looked forward with hope 
and confidence to the future. It so happened that at this 
time one of the leading representatives of American in- 



san francisco's great disaster. 385 

terests in California was John A. Sutter, a Swiss by his 
parentage ; a German by the place of his birth in Baden ; an 
American by residence and naturalization, and a Mexican 
by subsequent residence, and naturalization in California. 
In 1839 he settled at the junction of the Sacramento 
and American rivers, near the site of the present city of 
Sacremento. His ranche became known as Sutter's Fort. 
In the summer of 1847, ne planned the building of a flour 
mill, and partly to get lumber for it he planned a saw 
mill, too. Since there was no good timber in the valley, 
the saw mill must be in the mountains. The site for it 
was selected by James W. Marshall, a native of New Jersey, 
a wheelwright by occupation, industrious, generous, honest 
but "cranky," full of wild fancies, and defective in some 
kinds of business sense. The place for his mill was in the 
small valley of Coloma, 1,500 feet above the level of the 
sea, and forty-five miles from Sutter's Fort, from which it 
was accessible by wagon without expense for roadmaking. 

Early in 1848, the saw mill was nearly completed. 
The water had been turned into the race to carry away 
some of the loose dirt and gravel, and then had Been turned 
off again. On the afternoon of Monday, January 24, Mar- 
shall was walking in the tail race, when on its rotten granite 
bed rock he saw some yellow particles and picked up sev- 
eral of them. The largest were the size of grains of wheat. 
He thought they were gold and went to the mill, where 
he told the men that he had found a gold mine. At the 
time little importance was attached to his statement. It 
was regarded as a proper subject for ridicule. 

Marshall hammered his new metal and found it mal- 
leable; he put it into the kitchen fire, and observed that it 
did not readily melt or become discolored; he compared its 



386 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

color with gold coin; and the more he examined it the 
more he was convinced that it was gold. He soon found 
;an opportunity to show his discovery to Sutter, who tested 
the metal with acid and by careful weighing, and satisfied 
himself that Marshall's conclusion was correct. In the 
spring of 1848 San Francisco, a village of 700 inhabitants, 
had two newspapers, the "Californian" and the "California 
Star," both weeklies. The first printed mention of the gold 
discovery was a paragraph in the former, under date of the 
15th of March, stating that a gold mine had been found at 
Sutter's Mill, and that a package of the metal worth $30 
had been received at New Helvetia. Before the middle of 
June the whole territory resounded with the cry of "gold!" 
Nearly all the men hurried off to the mines. Workshops, 
stores, dwellings, vines and even ripe fields of grain were 
left for a time to take care of themselves. The reports of 
the discovery, which began to reach the Atlantic States in 
September, 1849, commanded little credence there before 
January ; but the news of the arrival of large amounts of 
gold at Mazatlan, Valparaiso, Panama and New York, in 
the latter part of the winter, put an end to all doubt, and in 
the spring there were such a rush of peaceful migration as 
the world had never seen. In 1849, 25,000 — according to 
one authority, 50,000 — immigrants went by land, and 
23,000 by sea from the region east of the Rocky Mountains, 
and by sea perhaps 40,000 from other parts of the world. 
The gold yield of 1848 was estimated at $5,000,000; that 
in 1849 at $23,000,000; that of 1850 at $50,000,000; that 
of 1853 at $65,000,000, the banner production. Since then 
there has been a decline, but California still yields an 
enormous annual output. California was admitted to the 
Union as a free State in 1850. The citizens had organized 



san francisco's great disaster. 387 

a state government with an anti-slavery constitution. Con- 
gress debated for ten months on the question of admission. 
The Missouri Compromise, the whole question of slavery 
pro and con entered into the controversy. Giants like Clay, 
Webster and Seward had part in it. Finally the famous 
Clay Omnibus Bill was passed, in August, 1850, and in its 
accepted shape required : ( 1 ) Utah and New Mexico to be 
organized into territories, without reference to slavery; 
(2) California to be admitted as a free State; (3) $10,- 
000,000 to be paid to Texas for her claim to New Mexico ; 

(4) fugitive slaves to be returned to their masters; and 

(5) the slave trade to be abolished in the District of Colum- 
bia. The compromises were received by the leaders of the 
two great parties as a final settlement of the vexed ques- 
tions which had so long troubld Congress and agitated the 
country, but the storm was only temporarily allayed. In 
accordance with these measures California became a State 
of the Union September 9, 1850. The most important 
feature of this bill, in its bearing upon future struggles and 
conflicts, was the fugitive slave law. In the midst of the 
discussion of these topics occurred the death of President 
Taylor, July 9, 1850, one year and four months after his 
inauguration. 



THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE. 

The story of the Vigilance Committee is among the 
most notable of San Francisco's traditions. This associa- 
tion was organized on May 15, 1856. For some time the 
corrupt-ion in the courts of law, the insecurity of the ballot- 
box in elections, and the infamous character of some of the 
public officials had been the subject of complaint, not only 
in San Francisco, but throughout the State of California. 
It was evident that it would become the duty of the people 
to protect themselves by reforming the courts, protecting 
the ballot and controlling the greedy and unprincipled poli- 
ticians. The latter were represented by a newspaper called 
the Sunday Times, edited by one James P. Casey. The 
opinion of the better classes of citizens was voiced by the 
Evening Bulletin, whose editor was James King. On the 
14th of May, 1856, King was shot by Casey, in the public 
street, receiving a wound from which he died six days 
later, and intense excitement of feeling in the city was pro- 
duced. Casey surrendered himself and was lodged in jail. 
During the evening of the 14th some of the members of a 
vigilance committee which had been formed in 185 1, and 
which had then checked a free riot of crime in the sud- 
denly populated and unorganized city, by trying and exe- 
cuting a few desperadoes, came together and determined the 
organization of another committee for the same purpose. 
The next day (the 15th) a set of rules and regulations were 
drawn up which each member was obliged to sign. The 
committee took spacious rooms, and all citizens of San 
Francisco having the welfare of the city at heart were in- 
vited to join the association. Several thousands enrolled 
themselves in a few days * * *. The members of the vigi- 

388 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. ?oQ 

lance committee were divided into companies of ico, _-■..!; 
company having a captain. 

V1GILANT8 BEGIN THEIR WORK. 

Early on Sunday (the 18th) orders were sent to dif- 
ferent captains to appear with their companies ready for 
duty at the headquarters of the committee, in Sacramento 
Street, at nine o'clock. When all the companies had arrived, 
they were formed into one body, in all about 2,000 men. 
Sixty picked men were selected as a guard for the execu- 
tive committee. At half-past eleven the whole force moved 
in the direction of the jail. A large number of spectators 
had collected, but there was no confusion, no noise. They 
marched through the city to Broadway, and there formed 
in the open space before the jail * * *. The houses oppo- 
site the jail were searched for men and arms secreted there; 
the committee wishing to prevent any chance of a collision 
which might lead to bloodshed. A cannon was then brought 
forward and placed in front of the jail, the muzzle pointed 
at the door. The jailer was now called upon to deliver 
Casey to the committee, and complied, being unable to re- 
sist. One Charles Cora, who had killed a United States 
marshal the November previous, was taken from the jail 
at the same time. The two prisoners were escorted to the 
quarters of the vigilance committee and there confined un- 
der guard. Two days afterwards (May 20th) Mr. King 
died. Casey and Cora were put on trial before a tribunal 
which the committee had organized, were condemned to 
death, and were hanged, with solemnity, on the 22d, from 
a platform erected in front of the building on Sa^^mento 
Street 



390 san francisco's great disaster. 

MAKE WAR ON RUFFIANS. 

The executive committee, finding that the power they 
held was perfectly under control, and that there was no 
danger of any popular excesses, determined to continue 
their work and rid the country of the gang of ruffians which 
had for so long a time managed elections in San Francisco 
and its vicinity. These men were all well known, and 
were ordered to leave San Francisco. Many went away. 
Those who had refused to go were arrested and taken to 
the rooms of the committee, where they were confined un- 
til opportunities offered for shipping them out of the coun- 
try * * *. The governor of California at this time was 
Mr. J. Neely Johnson * * *. The major-general of the 
second division of state militia (which included the city 
and county of San Francisco) was Mr. Willam T. Sher- 
man (afterwards well known in the world as General Sher- 
man) who had resigned his commission in the United 
States army and had become a partner in the banking house 
of Lucas, Turner & Co., in San Francisco * * *. To- 
ward the end of May, Governor Johnson * * * appealed 
to General Sherman for advice and assistance in putting 
a stop to the vigilance committee. At this time, General 
Wool was in command of the United States troops, and 
Commodore Farragut had charge of the Navy Yard. Gen- 
eral Wool was applied to for arms, and Commodore Far- 
ragut was asked to station a vessel of war at anchor off 
San Francisco. Both officers declined to act as requested, 
having no authority to do so. When Governor Johnson re- 
turned to Sacramento, a writ was issued, at his request, by 
Judge Terry, of the supreme court, commanding the sheriff 
of San Francisco to bring before him one William Mulli- 
gan, who was then in the hands of the vigilance commit- 



san francisco's great disaster. 391 

tee. The vigilance committee refused to surrender their 
prisoner to the sheriff, and General Sherman was ordered 
to call out the militia of his division to support that officer. 
At the same time the governor issued a proclamation de- 
claring the city of San Francisco in a state of insurrection. 
General Sherman found it impossible to arm his militia for 
service, and resigned the command. The governor sought 
and obtained arms elsewhere; but the schooner which 
brought them was seized and the arms possessed by the 
committee. On attempting to arrest the person who had 
charge of the schooner, one of the vigilance committee's 
policemen, named Hopkins, was stabbed by the afterwards 
notorious Judge Terry, who, with some others, had under- 
taken to protect the man. The signal for a general meeting 
under arms was sounded, and in a short time 1,500 men 
were reported ready for duty. In an hour 4,000 men were 
under arms and prepared to act against the so-called law- 
and-order party, who were collected in a force at the dif- 
ferent armories. These armories were surrounded. 

VIGILANCE COMMITTEE'S VICTORY. 

Judge Terry was demanded and delivered up, and all 
the arms and ammunition in the armories were removed. 
In this way was settled the question of power between the 
vigilance committee, who wished to restore order and were 
working to establish an honest judiciary and a pure ballot, 
and their opponents, the law-and-order party, who wished 
to uphold the dignity of the law by means of a butcher's 
knife in the hands of a judge of the supreme court. Al- 
though the committee were masters in San Francisco, their 
position was made more precarious by the very fact of their 
having disarmed their opponents. The attention of the 



392 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

whole Union was attracted to the state of things in Cali- 
fornia, and it was rumored that instructions had been 
sent from Washington to all the United States vessels in 
the Pacific to proceed at once to San Francisco; and that 
orders were on the way, placing the United States military 
force in California at the disposal of Governor Johnson. 
The committee went on steadily with their work. * * * 
All the important changes which they had undertaken had 
been carried out successfully, and they would gladly have 
given up the responsibility they had assumed had it not 
been for the case of Judge Terry. * * * At last the physi- 
cians announced that Hopkins was out of danger, and on 
the 7th of August, Judge Terry was released. * * * Hav- 
ing got rid of Judge Terry, the committee prepared to 
bring their labors to a close, and on the 18th of August 
the whole association, numbering over 5,000 men, after 
marching through the principal streets of San Francisco, 
returned to their headquarters in Sacramento Street, where, 
after delivering up their arms, they were relieved from duty. 
In the following November, there was an election of city 
and county officers. Everything went off quietly. A 
"people's ticket," bearing the names of thoroughly trust- 
worthy citizens, irrespective of party, was elected by a large 
majority and thus was begun a reputation for good gov- 
ernment, which, ever since, has been maintained. 



VESUVIUS, "THE CHIMNEY OF HELL." 

Vesuvius, the most romantic volcano of history, has 
a bad reputation, and the fact that its present outburst does 
not equal or surpass in fatalities its memorable eruption of 
the year A. D. 79 is due almost entirely to an appreciation 
of its previous destructive character. 

From the examination of the ruins of the buried cities 
of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and from the graphic descrip- 
tion of the eruption which destroyed those ancient and popu- 
lous towns left in the two letters of Pliny the younger, it 
is evident that the fury of the present activity of "The Chim- 
ney of Hell," as the mountain was known in the Dark 
Ages, is far greater than on the occasion which introduced 
Vesuvius to history. Contrary to common belief, the loss 
of life in Pompeii was not over 2000 souls. Yet the city 
had a population of about 30,000. 

As on the occasion of the first recorded eruption of Ve- 
suvius, a large part of the old mountain, known as Monte 
Somma, was blown away by the terrific explosion, so, dur- 
ing the present season of activity a part of the cone has been 
removed by the violence of the disruption. 

For 2000 years prior to the year 79, when Pompeii 
was destroyed, the mountain had never shown signs of ac- 
tivity. Although recognized as a volcanic cone, it was be- 
lieved that Vesuvius was extinct, and farmers, shepherds 
and vine-growers settled on its fertile grassy slopes, all 
unconscious that they were sleeping on the sides of a dan- 
gerous crater. Even in those davs there had been long 
warnings, and those who had profited by them were saved. 
Others, who could not or would not, were buried under the 

395 



396 san francisco's great disaster. 

ashes and volcanic mud, where they were found eighteen 
centuries later by industrious archaeologists. 

BETTER PRECAUTIONS NOW. 

The means of transportation in the days of Pompeii's 
greatness were, of course, meagre, compared with the steam- 
ships, railroads, trolley roads and automobiles of the present. 
When the sick or feeble or the loiterers attempted to leave 
Pompeii they were unable to do so. Those who had neglec- 
ted the warning perished. How many victims Vesuvius 
may lay claim to this time is not yet known, but few, if 
any of them, have been buried, as were those of the year 79. 
Certainly, eighteen centuries hence the archaeologist prob- 
ably will not find them in the position where they fell. 

The fertile slopes of Vesuvius have ever been the 
sirenlike tempter of the vine-grower. Four crops a year 
have been the temptation held out to the farmer. That 
was, he contended, worth a risk, and then the Government 
Observatory, established in 1841, always gave timely warn- 
ings. An examination of the ashes the other day showed 
that they will prove an active and valuable fertilizer. So, 
even after the present display of force is over and the old 
mountain once more becomes peaceful, the farmers will 
return to the farms on the slopes and chance it again. 

The hero of the eruption of 1906 was Professor Mat- 
teucci, director of the Royal Observatory, high on the moun- 
tain, directly opposite the crater. The professor has given 
to the world his experiences during the days of the volcano's 
activity during which he stood by his post. 

"I first observed Mount Vesuvius giving unusual signs 
about a month ago, when the Java began to overflow, taking 
a southwest direction. This gradually increased as several 



san francisco's great disaster. 397 

small lava streams formed into one great current. 

"The real danger began the middle of last week. Then 
an enormous stream of lava came from the summit, meet- 
ing the other streams which burst from the lower strata. It 
was this that overwhelmed Bosco Trecase. Throughout 
the lava discharge the volcano was comparatively quiet and 
without electrical phenomena or explosions. The only 
ominous sign was the advancing wave of lava and the cin- 
ders forming an enormous cloud in the shape of a pine tree 
over the crater. 

MOUNTAIN RENT ITS CONE. 

"Our really terrible period came at 3 o'clock Sunday 
morning and lasted until 8 o'clock. The mountain, 
which hitherto had been silent, suddenly gave out a 
deafening roar and a great rent was made in its cone. 
Huge solid rocks were hurled skyward. Some of them 
fell near the observatory, threatening to crash in the roof, 
but most of them fell far outside the observatory zone. 
There was no scoria in this first discharge, but solid bullet- 
like stones, which cut the roof and damaged the windows." 

"At midnight on Saturday," said Professor Matteucci, 
"I ordered the women and children of the household to be 
removed. This was just before the rain of huge stones 
began, and I was then left with Professor Perret, of New 
York, my American assistant, and two domestics. There was 
scarcely any eating and all domestic order was abandoned. 
We snatched a few bites now and then ; most of the time I 
ate right here," and the observer pointed to the remains of 
a recent meal on the desk in his study. 

Throughout Sunday enormous solid blocks of stone 
rose to a height of 2500 feet from the crater, while ashes and 



39B san francisco's great disaster, f 

sand were thrown much higher, but toward Monday the 
terrible shocks of earthquake gradually diminished. 

"One of the worst features of the eruption was the un- 
usual extent of the electrical phenomena, the darkness be- 
ing broken by vivid flashes of lightning, giving the sky 
a blood-like color, with short, heavy peals of thunder inter- 
spersed. These moments were terrible — very terrible. Yes, 
it was a veritable hell. 

"Observation was extremely difficult under such dis- 
turbing conditions. The seismatic instruments were badly 
affected by the electrical intensity, each explosion being an- 
nounced by a violent movement of the instrument, which 
seemed ready to burst into pieces." 

"Compared with other great eruptions," continued the 
observer, "this is one of the most important in the history 
of Vesuvius. Its effects are less terrible than those of the 
eruption of the year 79, when Pompeii was buried, but it 
equals in intensity the great eruptions of 1631 and 1872. 

"What results this eruption will yield to science is not 
yet certain. Eruptions are not exact in science. You can- 
not count on Vesuvius ; each of its eruptions has its char- 
acteristics. This one was marked by an abundance of elec- 
trical phenomena. I have already collected quantities of 
cinders and scoria for comparison with similar matter from 
other eruptions and later I will collect large stones." 

PROFESSOR FERRET'S ACCOUNT. 

Singularly, an American scientist is the only one shar- 
ing Professor Matteucci's opportunities of observation. 
This is Professor Frank A. Perret, of New York. 

"I have only been here three months," said Professor 
Perret. "I came to Italy originally for my health. I had 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 2>99 

studied volcano disturbances, and met Professor Matteucci. 
We became mutually interested, and he honored me by in- 
viting me to share his observations as an honorary assistant. 
The post of assistant to which I was recently appointed by 
the University of Naples came at a most fortunate moment, 
as it permitted my observation of this tremendous disturb- 
ance, which is beyond the faintest conception of those out- 
side the immediate terrors of Vesuvious. 

"The most terrible moment came Saturday night. I 
had gone to Bosco Trecase for the purpose of photograph- 
the lava stream that was then deluging that town. I re- 
turned to the observatorv about midnight. The dvnamic 
force of the main crater increased enormously, and new 
crater mouths opened. in the mountainside within ten min- 
utes of each other. This caused immense havoc. From 
Naples crowds flocked to Bosco Trecase to witness the 
sight which was grander there than at any other point. 

"At midnight the situation in the observatory was ter- 
rible. The ground rocked under it and it was impossible 
to stand firmly on one's feet. The roaring of the main 
crater was deafening; the volcano operated like a fountain, 
its discharge rising and spreading, and then falling over a 
great area. The electric phenomena were terrifying. The 
claps of thunder were constant, with a lurid play of light- 
ning. The cause of the phenomena was friction from the 
ascending particles, generating electricity which displayed 
itself in incessant lightning and thunder claps. 

"No one thought of sleep, but all stood gazing at the 
scene. At 3 o'clock in the morning the lowest station 
seemed to be burning, and at 3 130 o'clock the whole cone 
broke open with a tremendous earthquake shock. Red hot 
projectiles were precipitated toward Mount Somna and the 
observatorv. That seemed to be the critical moment, and 



4-00 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

the brigadier of the carbineers ordered a retreat. We made 
our way to a small house down the mountain side, but even 
the rain of stones continued. One of the carbineers was 
struck on the head and badly cut. After this the intensity 
of the eruption steadily decreased. 

The eruption of 1906, began early in April with earth- 
quake shocks, loud detonations, lava streams and showers 
of ashes that covered the ground an inch deep. People 
began flocking from the region on April 5. 

The eruption increased in violence. A dense fog, 
charged with ashes and sulphurous fumes, hung over the 
land, and condensing vapors came down in floods of rain. 
The earth was in a constant tremor, and the incessant ex- 
plosions were compared to a heavy cannonade. On April 
6, the main stream of lava, two hundred feet wide, was 
pouring down the mountain side at the rate of twenty-one 
feet a minute, the vegetation in its path shriveling in ad- 
vance from the wave of heat that preceded it. Hot mud, 
ashes, and black sand mixed with water came down in 
"caustic rain." The churches were crowded with praying 
worshipers. At night a, pillar of fire a thousand feet high 
illuminated the land and sea like the flame of a gigantic 
lighthouse. The military engineers tried to build obstruc- 
tions to protect the towns in the path of the streams, but 
the lava rolled over them, destroyed Boscotrecase, a place 
of ten thousand inhabitants, and drove out the thirty thou- 
sand of Torre dell' Annunziata. The observatory on Vesu- 
vius was destroyed, and the director and employees nar- 
rowly escaped with their lives. By the 9th a hundred and 
fifty thouand refugees were gathered at Naples, and the 
streets of the city were buried in ashes to a depth of more 
than three feet. A majority of the fatalities seemed to have 
happened at Ottajano and San Guiseppe, on the northeast 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 4OI 

side of the mountain. King Victor Emmanuel and Queen 
Helena went to Naples, and the King visited the threatened 
villages at the foot of the mountain. King Edward and 
Queen Alexandra were advised to stay away. The Italian 
fleet was ordered to go to Naples to assist the refugees and 
the captains of several foreign ships offered their vessels as 
shelter. A partial clearing of the smoke cloud on the after- 
noon of April 9, revealed the fact that the outline of 
Vesuvius was altered. The whole cone had been blown 
away, and it was estimated that the summit was 250 metres 
lower than it was before the eruption. At that time the 
extent of the flow of lava was said to have surpassed any- 
thing known in two centuries. 

POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM. 

Vesuvius enters history with the eruption which buried 
the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum on October 24 of 
the year 79. So far as is known there is no previous record 
of an eruption. For sixteen years before the fatal year 
there were what to modern scientists would be undeniable 
signs of promised activity in the terrible earthquakes which 
occurred with fatal frequency for sixteen years before the 
awful event. A great part of Pompeii was thrown down by 
a shock in the year 63, and the next year, just after Nero 
left the building in Naples, where he had been singing, the 
structure was destroyed by seismic disturbances. 

It is not unlikely that these warnings did have their 
effect upon some of the inhabitants of the cities on the 
Bay of Naples. According to Dion Cassius, who wrote a 
century later, Herculaneum and Pompeii were destroyed 
"while the population were sitting in the theatre." Excava- 
tions have not proved this statement, for only a few bodies 



402 san Francisco's great disaster. 

have been uncovered in the old theatres of Pompeii, and 
these are believed to be the remains of gladiators either 
slain or wounded here. If the theatres were filled there 
is evidence that the spectators were able to make their 
escape. 

DESCRIPTION BY PJ.INY. 

The most famous description of the historic outburst 
is that left by Pliny the younger, who was an eyewitness, 
in two letters which he wrote to Tacitus. 

"Your request," he wrote in the first epistle, "that I 
would send you an account of my uncle's death, in order to 
transmit a more exact relation of it to posterity, de- 
serves my acknowledgments, for if this accident shall be 
celebrated by your pen the glory of it, I am well assured, 
will be rendered forever illustrious. And notwithstanding 
he perished by a misfortune which, as it involved at the 
same time a most beautiful country in ruins, and destroyed 
so many populous cities, seems to promise him an everlast- 
ing remembrance; notwithstanding he has himself com- 
posed many and lasting works, yet I am persuaded the 
mentioning of him in your immortal writings will greatly 
contribute to render his name immortal. 

"It is with extreme willingness, therefore, that I exe- 
cute your commands, and should indeed have demanded 
the task if you had not enjoined it. He was at that time 
with the fleet under his command at Misenum. On the 
24th of August, about 1 in the afternoon, my mother de- 
sired him to observe a cloud which appeared of a very un- 
usual size and shape. He had just taken a turn in the sun, 
and, after bathing himself in cold water and making a light 
luncheon, gone back to his books. He immediately arose 
and went out upon a rising ground from whence he might 
get a better sight of this very uncommon appearance. A 




RUINS OF THE CITY OF ST. PIERRE MARTINIQUE JAFTER THE 
ERUPTION OF MT, PELEE, 



san francisco's great disaster. 4°5 

cloud, from which mountain was uncertain at this distance 
(but it was found afterward to come from Mount Vesuvius), 
was ascending, the appearance of which I cannot give you 
a more exact description of than by likening it to that of a 
pine tree, for it shot up to a great height in the form of a 
tall trunk, which spread itself out at the top into a sort of 
branches, occasioned, I imagine, either by a sudden gust of 
air that impelled it, the force of which decreased as it ad- 
vanced upward, or the cloud itself being pressed back again 
by its own weight, expanded in the manner I have men- 
tioned; it appeared sometimes bright and sometimes dark 
and spotted, according as it was either more or less im- 
pregnated with earth and cinders. 

DARKER THAN THICKEST NIGHT. 

''Meanwhile broad flames shone out in several places 
from Mount Vesuvius, which the darkness of the night 
contributed to render still brighter and clearer. But my 
uncle, in order to soothe the apprehensions of his friend, 
Pomponianus, assured him it was only the burning of the 
villages, which the country people had abandoned to the 
flames. After this he retired to rest. The court which led 
to his apartment being now almost filled with stones and 
ashes, if he had continued there any time longer it would 
have been impossible for him to have made his way out. 
So he was awakened and got up, and went to Pomponianus 
and the rest of the company, who were feeling too anxious 
to think of going to bed. 

'They went out then, having pillows tied upon their 
heads with napkins, and this was their whole defense 
against the storm of stones that fell round them. 

"It was now day everywhere else, but there a deeper 



4c6 san francisco's great disaster. 

darkness prevailed than in the thickest night, which, how- 
ever, was in some degree alleviated by torches and other 
lights of various kinds. They thought proper to go further 
down upon the shore to see if they might safely put to sea, 
but found the waves still running extremely high and 
boisterous. 

"There my uncle, laying himself down upon a sail cloth 
which was spread for him, called twice for some cold water, 
which he drank, when immediately the flames, preceded by 
a strong whiff of sulphur, dispersed the rest of the party and 
obliged him to rise. He raised himself up with the assis- 
tance of two of his servants, and instantly fell down dead, 
suffocated, as I conjecture by some gross and noxious va- 
por, having always had a weak throat, which was often in- 
flamed. As soon as it was light again, which was not till 
the third day after this melancholy accident, his body was 
found entire, and without any marks of violence upon it, in 
the dress in which he fell, and looking more like a man 
asleep than dead." 

DANGEROUS AND DREADFUL SCENE. 

In his second letter Pliny gives further particulars: 
"There," he wrote, "had been noticed for many days 
before a trembling of the earth, which did not alarm us 
much, as this is quite an ordinary occurrence in Campania, 
but it was so particularly violent that night that it not only 
shook, but actually overturned, as it would seem, every- 
thing about us. My mother rushed into my chamber, 
where she found me rising, in order to awaken her. We 
sat down in the open court of the house, which occupied a 
small space between the buildings and the sea. As I was at 
that time but 18 years of age I know not whether I should 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 407 

•all my behavior in this dangerous juncture courage or 
folly; but I took up Livy and amused myself with turning 
over that author, and even making extracts from him, as if 
I had been perfectly at my leisure. Though it was now 
morning the light was still exceedingly faint and doubtful; 
the buildings all around us tottered, and though we stood 
upon open ground, yet as the place was narrow and con- 
fined, there was no remaining without imminent danger. 
We, therefore, resolved to quit the town. 

"A panic-stricken crowd followed us, and (as to a mind 
distracted with terror every suggestion seemed more pru- 
dent than its own) pressed on us in dense array to drive 
us forward as we came out. Being at a convenient distance 
from the houses we stood still in the midst of a most dan- 
gerous and dreadful scene. The chariots, which we had 
ordered to be drawn out, were so agitated backward and 
forward, though upon the most level ground, that we could 
not keep them steady, even by supporting them with large 
stones. The sea seemed to roll back upon itself, and to be 
driven from its banks by the convulsive motion of the earth. 
It is certain at least the shore was considerably enlarged, 
and several sea animals were left upon it. On the other side 
a black and dreadful cloud, broken with rapid, zigzag 
flashes, revealed behind it variously shaped masses of flame. 
These last were like sheet lightning, but much larger. 

"Soon afterward the cloud began to descend and cover 
the sea. It had already surrounded and concealed the Is- 
land of Capri and the promontory of Misenum. 

"My mother now besought, urged, even commanded 
me to make my escape, at any rate, which, as I was young, 
I might easily do; as for herself, she said her age and cor- 
pulency rendered all attempts of that sort impossible; how- 
ever, she would willingly meet death if she could have the 



408 san francisco's great disaster. 

satisfaction of seeing that she was not the occasion of mine. 
But I absolutely refused to leave her, and taking her by the 
hand, compelled her to g*o with me. She complied with 
great reluctance, and not without many reproaches to her- 
self for retarding my flight. 

"The ashes now began to fall upon us, though in no 
great quantity. I looked back. A dense, dark mist seemed 
to be following us, spreading itself over the country like a 
cloud. 'Let us turn out of the high road/ I said, 'while we 
can still see, for fear that, should we fall in the road, we 
should be pressed to death in the dark by the crowds that 
are following us/ We had scarcely sat down when night 
came upon us, not such as we have when the sky is cloudy, 
or when there is no moon, but that of a room when it is 
shut up and all the lights put out. 

A GRAPHIC WORD-PICTURE. 

"You might hear the shrieks of women, the screams of 
children and the shouts of men; some calling for their 
children, others for their parents, others for their husbands, 
and seeking to recognize each other by the voices that re- 
plied; one lamenting his own fate; another that of his fam- 
ily; some wishing to die from the very fear of dying; some 
lifting their hands to the gods, but the greater part con- 
vinced that there were now no gods at all, and that the final 
endless night, of which we have heard, had come upon the 
world. Among these there were some who augmented the 
real terrors by others imaginary or wilfully invented. I re- 
member some who declared that one part of Misenum had 
fallen, that another was on fire; it was false, but they found 
people to believe them. It now grew rather lighter, which 
we imagined to be rather the forerunner of an approaching 



san Francisco's great disaster. 409 

burst of flames (as in truth it was) than the return of day. 
However, the fire fell at a distance from us; then again we 
were immersed in thick darkness, and a heavy shower of 
ashes rained upon us, which we were obliged every now 
and then to stand up to shake off, otherwise we should have 
been crushed and buried in the heap. 

"At last this dreadful darkness was dissipated by de- 
grees,, like a cloud of smoke; the real day returned, and even 
the sun shone out, though with a lurid light, as when an 
eclipse is coming on. Every object that presented itself to 
our eyes (which were extremely weakened) seemed 
changed, being covered deep with ashes as if with snow." 

ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS. 

Vesuvius is inseparably linked with the destruction of 
Pompeii, so graphically described by the younger Pliny. 
Although the burning mountain before that time always 
had been regarded as an extinct crater, the volcano ceased 
its activity after that awful exhibition of its power, and for 
124 years remained dormant. The principal eruptions of 
Vesuvius have been as follows: A. D. 79, 203, 472, 512, 685, 
993, 1036, 1049, 1 138, 1306, 1631, 1779, 1793, 1822, 1861, 
1872, 1906. The eruptions of 1631, 1872 and the present 
month are the most destructive since the ashes of the vol- 
cano sealed up the two ancient cities at its foot. That of 
1 63 1 killed about 4,000 persons; in 1872 about 60 perished; 
and it is estimated that thus far almost 500 persons have 
fallen victims to the present fury of Vesuvius, while the 
property loss, at present only to be estimated, may reach 
$20,000,000. 

Pompeii was buried under materials from twenty to 



410 SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 

twenty-five feet deep. The greater part of this covering is 
composed of volcanic ash. Several strata of volcanic ma- 
terial have been found by excavators, showing that more 
than once the lava, mud and ashes from the crater have 
fallen over the same place. Five-sixths of the depth of the 
materials has been found to consist of pumice stone of an 
irregular shape, from the size of a pea to two or three 
inches in diameter. Upon the authority of some scientists 
who have examined these materials it is said that fire was 
no element in the destruction of Pompeii. 

POMPEII AN ARTISTIC QUARRY. 

Soon after the destruction of the ancient city searches 
were made, either by those who escaped or by looters, and 
many articles of value removed. There is evidence tending 
to show that these researches were continued over a long 
period. It is also known that the Emperor Alexander 
Severus made Pompeii a sort of artistic quarry, from which 
he drew a great quantity of marbles, columns and beautiful 
statues which he employed in adorning edifices he con- 
structed in Rome. The furniture once in the Basilica and 
the columns of the porticos of Eumachia were missing when 
the ruins were uncovered, and it has reasonably been sug- 
gested that they were removed, probably by the imperial 
looter. 

PROGRESS IN RECENT YEARS. 

Charles III, the first Bourbon King of Naples, had a 
palace erected at Portici in 1748, and more remains of an 
ancient town were brought to light. A Spanish officer of 
Engineers was employed to examine the subterranean 



SAtt Francisco's great disaster. 411 

canal, and he was led to conjecture that a buried city was to 
be found on its lines. Excavations were then commenced, 
and have been continued, with intermissions, down to 
the present time. In 1755 the Accademia Ercolanese 
was instituted for the investigation of the antiquities dis- 
covered, and under their auspices was published in nine vol- 
umes the "Pitture d'Ercalano." The publication caused a 
sensation among- the learned, and worldwide interest has 
since been felt in the gigantic work of uncovering the 
ruined cities. Since 1828 the work of research has gone 
forward very energetically, until now it is almost possible 
to gain a fairly thorough history of the manners and cus- 
toms of Pompeii under the Roman rule. 

GREAT THEATRES OF POMPEII. 

Besides the temples which surround the forum, the re- 
mains of four others have been discovered, three of which 
are situated in the immediate neighborhood of the theatre. 
i\mong the most conspicuous buildings are the theatres, of 
which there were two, placed, as was usual in Greek towns, 
in close juxtaposition with one another. The largest of 
these, which was partly excavated in the side of the hill, was 
a building of considerable magnificence, being in great part 
cased with marble, and furnished with seats of the same 
material, which have, however, been almost wholly re- 
moved. Its internal construction and arrangements re- 
semble those of the Roman theatres in general, though 
with some peculiarities that show Greek influence, and we 
learn from an inscription that it was erected in Roman 
times by two members of the same family, M. Holconius 
Rufus and M. Holconius Celer, both of whom held im- 
portant municipal offices at Pompeii during the reign of 



412 san Francisco's great disaster. 

Augustus. The smaller theatre, which was erected, as 
we learn from an inscription, by two magistrates specially 
appointed for the purpose by the decurions of the city, 
was of older date than the large one, and appears to have 
been constructed about the same time as the ampitheatre 
soon after the establishment of the Roman colony under 
Sulla. The smaller theatre is computed to have been 
capable of containing fifteen hundred spectators while the 
larger could accommodate five thousand persons. 

THE CATTLE MARKET. 

Adjoining the amphitheatre was found a large 
open space, nearly square in form which has been 
supposed to be a forum boarium or cattle market, 
but, no buildings of interest being discovered around it, 
the excavation was filled up again, and this part of the 
city has not since been examined. Among the more im- 
portant public buildings in Pompeii were the thermae, or 
public baths, an institution that always held a prominent 
position in every Roman or Graeco-Roman town. Three 
different establishments of this character have been discov- 
ered, of which the first, excavated in 1824, was for a long 
time the only one known. Great as is the interest at- 
tached to the various public buildings of Pompeii, and 
valuable as is the light that they have in some instances 
thrown upon similar edifices in other ruined cities, far more 
curious and interesting is the insight afforded us by the 
numerous private houses and shops into the ordinary life 
and habits of the population of the ancient town. 

THE ARCHITECTURE OF POMPEII. 

The architecture of Pompeii must be regarded as 
presenting in general a transitional character from the pure 



SAN FRANCISCO S GREAT DISASTER. 413 

Greek style to that of the Roman Empire. All the three 
orders of Greek architecture — the Doric, Ionic and Cor- 
inthian — are found freely employed in the various edifices 
of the city, but rarely in strict accordance with the rules 
of art in their proportions and details, while the private 
houses naturally exhibit still more deviation and irregu- 
larity. The architecture of Pompeii suffers also from the 
inferior quality of the materials generally employed. No 
good building stone was at hand ; and the public as well as 
private edifices were constructed either of volcanic tuff, 
or brick; or the irregular masonry known to the Romans 
as opus incertum. In the private houses, even, the col- 
umns are mostly of brick covered merely with a coat of 
stucco. In a few instances only do we find them making 
use of a kind of travertine, found in the valley of the Sarno, 
which, though inferior to the similiar material so largely 
employed at Rome, was better adapted than the ordinary 
tuff for purposes where great solidity was required. The 
portion of the portico surrounding the forum which was 
in the process of rebuilding at the time when the city was 
destroyed was constructed of this material, while the 
earlier portions, as well as the principal temples that ad- 
joined it, were composed in the ordinary manner of vol- 
canic tuff. 



GREAT EARTHQUAKES OF HISTORY 

Accounts of earthquakes are to be found scattered 
through the writings of many ancient authors, but they are, 
for the most part, of little value to the seismologist. There 
is a natural tendency to exaggeration in describing such 
phenomena, sometimes, indeed, to the extent of importing 
a supernatural element into the description. It is true that 
attempts were made by some ancient writers on natural phil- 
osophy, to offer a rational explanation of earthquake phe- 
nomena, but the hypotheses which their explanations in- 
volved are, as a rule, too fanciful to be worth reproducing 
at the present day. It is, therefore, unnecessary to dwell 
upon the references to seismic phenomena which have come 
down to us in the writings of such historians and philoso- 
phers as Thucydides, Aristotle, and Strabo, Seneca, Livy, 
and Pliny. Nor is much to be gleaned from the pages of 
mediaeval and later writers on earthquakes, of whom the 
most notable are Fromondi (1527), Maggio (1571), and 
Travagini (1679). 

Even at the present day, after all that has been written 
on the subject, but little is really known as to the origin of 
earthquakes. Probably several distinct causes should be rec- 
ognized, for it is hardly to be supposed that all subterranean 
disturbances, differing, as they do, so widely in intensity 
and in duration, should be referable to one common mechan- 
ism. Any great concussion, even upon the surface, is com- 
petent to produce tremors which may be regarded as dimin- 
utive earthquakes; thus the great landslip at the Rossberg, 
in Switzerland, in 1806, was accompanied by a local quaking 
of the ground. Volgar and Mohr have suggested that some 
of the small earthquakes which have been felt in Germany 

414 



san Francisco's great disaster. 4 j 5 

may be referred to the falling-in of the roof of enormous 
subterranean cavities formed by the long-continued solvent 
action of water on deposits of rock-salt, limestone, and gyp- 
sum. Such causes, however, can have given rise to only 
very petty shocks, and must be quite subordinate to subter- 
ranean disturbances of a more general character. 

The late Mr. Poulett Scrope was led to refer most 
earthquakes to "the snap and jar occasioned by the sudden 
and violent rupture of solid rock-masses, and, perhaps, the 
instantaneous injection into them of intumescent molten 
matter from beneath." He believed that the rupture of the 
rocks was due to expansion of deeply seated masses of 
mineral matter, consequent upon either increased tempera- 
ture or diminished temperature. It is argued, however, by 
Mr. Mallet, on mechanical principles, that such fractures 
could produce only very weak impulses; but he believes 
that some earthquakes, especially those marked by long- 
continued tremors, may be due to the movement and crush- 
ing of rock masses by tangential pressures produced by 
secular cooling of the earth. Steam has always been a 
favorite agent with seismologists, since it is clearly compe- 
tent to produce great effects by its sudden generation or by 
its sudden condensation. It has been suggested that water, 
rinding its way through fissures in the earth's crust, might 
reach highly-heated rocks and remain quietly, in the spher- 
oidal condition until a local reduction of temperature sud- 
denly caused it to flash into steam. After all, the origin of 
earthquakes is probably to be regarded as part only of a 
much wider question. Whatever causes are competent to 
produce volcanic action are, in all likelihood, equally com- 
petent to produce the ordinary manifestations of seismic en- 
ergy. A reaction is clearly traceable between the geographi- 
cal distribution of vdcanoes and the chief earthquake-areas ; 



4i 6 san francisco's great disaster. 

and although it is not for a moment to be supposed that the 
volcano and the earthquake stand to each other in relation 
of cause and effect, it is nevertheless highly probable that 
they represent merely different expressions of the same sub- 
terranean forces. 

DESTRUCTION OF SPARTA, B. C. 464. 

History records many earthquakes of tremendous 
force and destructiveness. In B. C. 464, the whole of 
Laconia was shaken. The story is told by Thirlwall in 
his ''History of Greece." The earthquake opened great 
chasms in the ground and rolled down huge masses from 
the highest peaks of Taygetus; Sparta, itself, became a 
heap of ruins, in which not more than five houses are said 
to have been left standing. More than 20,000 persons 
were believed to have been destroyed by the shock and 
the flower of the Spartan youth was overwhelmed by the 
fall of the buildings in which they were exercising them- 
selves. 

THE LISBON TRAGEDY. 

The Lisbon earthquake cost 20,000 lives and great 
portions of the city were engulfed. Grace Aguilar in her 
novel "The Escape" gives a graphic pen picture of the 
tragedy, which occurred on November 1, 1755. Alvar 
Rodriguez, a rich Jew, whose wealth has excited the cupid- 
ity of officials of the Spanish Inquisition and his young 
bride, Almah Diaz, are on the point of being put to death. 
The earthquake is their salvation. The incident is thus 
described : 

The executioners hurried forward, the brands were 



san francisco's great disaster. 417 

applied to the turf of the piles, the flames blazed up be- 
neath their hand — when at that moment there came a 
shock as if the earth were cloven asunder, the heavens rent 
in twain. A crash so loud, so fearful, so appalling, as if 
the whole of Lisbon had been shivered to its foundations, 
and a shriek, or rather thousands and thousands of human 
voices, blended in one wild, piercing cry of agony and 
terror, seeming to burst from every quarter at the selfsame 
instant, and fraught with universal woe. The buildings 
around shook, as impelled by a mighty whirlwind, though 
no such sound was heard. 

The earth heaved, yawned, closed, and rocked again, 
as the billows of the ocean were lashed to fury. It was a 
moment of untold horror. The crowd assembled to wit- 
ness the martyrs' death, wildly shrieking, fled on every side. 
Scattered to the heaving ground, the blazing piles lay 
powerless to injure; their bonds were shivered, their guards 
were fled. . . One bound brought Alvar to his wife and 
he clasped her in his arms. 

FEARFUL HAVOC OF SHOCK. 

Every street and square, and avenue was choked with 
shattered ruins, rent from top to bottom; houses, con- 
vents, and churches presented the most fearful aspect of 
ruin; while every second minute a new impetus seemed 
to be given to the convulsed earth, causing those that re- 
mained still perfect to rock and rend. Huge stones, falling 
from every crack, were crushing the miserable fugitives 
as they rushed on, seeking safety they knew not where. . 
None dared ask the fate of friends— none dared ask, "Who 
lives?" in that one scene of universal death. 



418 san francisco's great disaster. 

On, on sped Alvar and his precious burden! On, over 
the piles of ruins; on, unhurt amidst the showers of stones, 
which hurled in the air as easily as a ball cast from an in- 
fant's hand, fell back again laden with a hundred deaths; 
on, amid the rocking and yawning earth, beholding thou- 
sands swallowed up, crushed and maimed, worse than death 
itself, for they were left to a lingering torture — to die a 
thousand deaths in anticipating one; on over the disfigured 
heaps of dead, and the unrecognized masses of what had 
once been magnificent and gorgeous buildings. 

His eye was well nigh blinded with the shaking and 
tottering movement of all things animate and inanimate 
before him; and his path was obscured by the sudden and 
awful darkness, which had changed that bright, glowing 
hue of the sunny sky into a pall of dense and terrible 
blackness, becoming thicker and denser with every suc- 
ceeding minute, till darkness which might be felt, envel- 
oped that city as with the grim shadow of death. 

His ear was deafened by the appalling sounds of hu- 
man agony and nature's wrath; for now sounds as of a 
hundred waterspouts, the dull, continued roar of subter- 
ranean thunder, becoming at times loud as the discharge 
of a thousand cannons; at others resembling the sharp 
grating sound of hundreds and hundreds of chariots driven 
full speed over the stones; and this, mingled with the 
piercing shrieks of women, the hoarser cries and shouts 
of men, and the deep, terrible groans of mental agony and 
the shriller screams of instantaneous deaths, had usurped 
the place of the previous awful stillness, till every sense 
of those who yet survived seemed distorted and maddened. 



san francisco's great disaster. 4 x 9 

THE GREAT RUSH OF THE SEA. 

A shock, violent, destructive, convulsive, flung them 

prostrate. 

A new and terrible cry added to the universal horror. 

"The sea! The sea!" 

Alvar sprang to his feet, and, clasped in each other's 
arms, he and Almah gazed beneath. Not a breath of 
wind moved, yet the river tossed and heaved as impelled 
by a mighty storm — and on it came, roaring, foaming, 
tumbling, as if every bound were loosed; on, on over the 
land to the very heart of the devoted city, sweeping off 
hundreds in its course and retiring with such velocity and 
so far beyond its natural banks that vessels were left dry 
which had five minutes before ridden in water seven fath- 
oms deep. 

Again and again this phenomenon took place; the 
vessels in the river at the same instant whirled round and 
round with frightful rapidity, and smaller boats dashed up- 
wards, falling back to disappear beneath the booming 
waters. 

As if chained to the spot by the horror, Alvar and 
his wife yet gazed; their glances fixed on the new marble 
quay, where thousands and thousands of the fugitives had 
congregated; fixed as if unconsciously foreboding what 
was to befall. 

Again the tide rushed in — on, on, over the massive 
ruins, heaving, raging, swelling, as a living thing; and at 
the same instant the quay and its vast burden of humanity 
sunk within an abyss of boiling waters, into which the 
innumerable boats around were alike impelled, leaving not 
a trace, even when the angry waters return to their chan- 
nel, suddenly as they had left it, to mark what had been. 



420 san francisco's great disaster. 

A CITY PERISHED AND PROSTRATE. 

Terrible it was. From three several parts of the 
ruined city huge fires suddenly blazed up, hissing, crack- 
ling, ascending as clear columns of liquid flame up against 
the pitchy darkness, infusing it with tenfold horror — spread- 
ing on every side — consuming all wood and wall which 
the earth and water had left unscathed; wreathing its 
serpent like folds in and out the ruins; fascinating the eye 
with admiration, yet bidding the blood chill and the flesh 
creep. 

Fresh shouts and cries had marked its rise and pro- 
gress, but, aghast and stupefied, those who yet survived 
made no effort to check its way, and on every side it spread, 
forming lanes and squares of glowing red, flinging its lurid 
glare so vividly around that even those on the distant 
heights could see to read by it; and fearful was the scene 
that awful light revealed. 

Now, for the first time, could Alvar trace the full ex- 
tent of destruction which had befallen. That glorious city 
which, a few brief hours previous, lay reposing in gorge- 
ous sunlight — mighty in its palaces and towers — in its 
churches, convents, theatres, magazines, and dwellings — 
rich in its numberless artisans and stores — lay perished 
and prostrate as the grim specter of long ages past, save 
that the fearful groups yet passing to and fro, or huddled 
in kneeling or standing masses, some bathed in the red 
glare of the increasing fires, others black and shapeless — 
save when sudden fire flashed on them, disclosing what 
they were — revealed a strange and horrible present amid 
what seemed the shadows of a fearful past. 



SAN FRANCISCO'S GREAT DISASTER, 421 

LIMA AND CALLAO— 1746. 

South America, along its western side, has been a re- 
gion of many earthquakes. The Cordillera, a coast range, 
is a great terrestrial billow, bristling with volcanoes, active 
and extinct, and in almost every part showing striking 
evidence of volcanic agencies. It is throughout volcanic, 
as if overlying some vast fissure of the earth's crust, 
reaching nearly in a right line from north to south. But 
the two great centers of pronounced and frequently recur- 
ring disturbance coincide nearly with the sites of the capi- 
tals of the two republics, Ecuador and Peru, namely Quito 
and Lima. 

The first earthquake recorded in this region preceded 
the Lisbon disaster by a few years. It occurred in the 
year 1746, on the 28th day of October, and was felt over 
a vast expanse of country. During the night at half past 
10 o'clock, the earth was suddenly convulsed, and as a 
contemporary in Lima wrote, "at one and the same time 
came the noise, the shock and the ruin," so that in a space 
of four minutes, during which the earthquake lasted, the 
destruction was complete, and Lima was reduced to a heap 
of ruins. 

Of upward of 3000 houses but twenty-one remained 
standing. There were seventy-one churches, great and 
small, all of which were destroyed. Still, owing in part 
to its occurrence early in the evening, before the people 
were in their beds, only 1141 persons were killed out of 
a population of perhaps from 40,000 to 50,000. Seventy 
of these were patients in the Hospital of St. Anne. 

PERU AND ECUADOR— 1868. 

Many other earthquakes, more or less disastrous, are 



422 SAN FRANCISCO'S GREAT DISASTER. 

recorded in Peru and Ecuador. But it was in 1868 that 
there took place what are known as "the great South 
American earthquakes," which for their extent, violence 
and widespread devastation may be regarded as the most 
terrible seismic disturbances on record. For months, the 
catastrophe was portended by hurricanes, tremors and 
volcanic eruptions in almost every quarter of the globe. 

The great shocks in the South American continent 
took place on August 13 and 16. They were felt, more 
or less severely, over an extent, from north to south, of 
more than sixty degrees of latitude, all the way from the 
Isthmus to Cape Horn. Yet their lateral action seems to 
have been checked, on the east certainly, by the chain of 
the Cordillera, and effectually stopped by the Andes., So 
terrific w r ere the shocks in Peru and beneath the seas 
adjoining that great tidal waves broke on the shores of the 
Pacific islands and on those of distant New Zealand, Japan 
and California. 

KRAKATOA— 1883. 

Until the year 1883, few people of the world gene- 
rally had ever heard of the little Island of Krakatoa, lying 
in the Sunda Straits, midway between Java and Sumatra. 
Beneath the big mountain, an extinct voca.no, was the 
thriving little seaport of Anjer, crowded with yellow 7 - 
skinned Malays. Back of the town were scores of small 
villages. 

Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are always closely 
associated, and it was earthquake shocks that, in 1883, gave 
the first warning of disturbance within the cone of Kraka- 
toa. These were felt over a wide area, throughout all the 
adjacent islands. Then came the signs of volcanic activ- 
ity. But at first the eruption did not threaten to be of 
any serious type. In fact, the good people of Batavia, a 
hundred miles away, so far from being terrified at what 
w r as in progress in Krakatoa, thought the display was such 
an attraction that they chartered a steamer and went forth 
for a pleasant picinic on the island. 



- SAN FRANCISCO'S GREAT DISASTER. 423 

But as the summer advanced,, the vigor of Krakatoa 
steadily increased, the noises became more and more vehe- 
ment, and at last the thunders of the recurring explosions 
caused consternation over a wide region. There were 
other symptoms of the approaching catastrophe. With 
each successive convulsion, a quantity of fine dust was 
projected aloft into the clouds. There was no wind to 
carry this dust away, and, as the atmosphere thus became 
heavily charged with the suspended particles, a pall of 
darkness enveloped Krakatoa, and hung over the adjoin- 
ing seas and islands. For a hundred miles around the 
darkness of midnight prevailed at midday. Then came the 
finak tragedy. 

On the night of Sunday, August 26, there occurred 
an explosion that shook the world for hundreds of miles 
around. There followed a rain of grey, soft ashes. Then 
at the hour when there should have been dawn, but every- 
thing was darkness, a great wave leapt from the sea and 
clashed itself on the island. The fleeing natives flung them- 
selves upon the hills, with the water hard behind them. 
But the surging waters caught them, and drew them back. 
When the resurge came, the land was stripped clean of 
living timber and of living beings. In this disaster over 
fifty thousand people perished, and few of the bodies were 
ever recovered. 

JAPAN— 1888. 

Japan has been the scene of many disastrous earth- 
quakes. On the morning of July, 15, 1888, in the province 
of Tukushima, about one hundred and sixty-five miles 
north of Tokio, a low rumbling was heard like the sound 
of distant thunder. Then the earth was heaved up and 
began to tremble violently, the ground undulating like 
water shaking in a bowl. From the peak of Bandaisun 
The green earth below was speedily covered by a winding 
sheet of volcanic mud, heavy rocks, hot water, burning sul- 
phur, red-hot sand, and glowing ashes. Under this mass, 



424 san francisco's great disaster. 

varying- in thickness from seven to twenty feet, were hi en 
six hundred men, women and children, dead at on jr 
writhing in their last agonies. Among those that perched 
there shot up into the air a huge mass of red volcnic 
mud, mixed with fire and rocks, smoke and sulphur fui es. 
were no fewer than 150 visitors to the medicinal hot sr igs 
that had long made the place famous. 

GUATEMALA— 1902. 

On April 18, 1902, by an earthquake shock that lasted 
only 90 seconds, the entire city of Quezaltenayo, in Guate- 
mala, Central America, was crumbled into ruins, tho ^ands 
of its inhabitants were killed and other thousands maimed 
and crippled. The population of the city was plainly 
Indians, of a high grade of civilization. The disa^.er was 
preceded by a great storm. The thunder roared and 
crashed from peak to peak, continuous flashes of lightning 
played over the doomed city, the electric lighting plant 
collapsed, and the blackness of the fearsome night was 
broken only by the electricity of heaven. Then came the 
ohort, sharp unheaval, the crash and ripping of falling 
buildings, the screams of the wounded and the dying, and 
thereafter terror stricken crowds groping and staggering 
through the dark, trampling each other to deatli in the 
frenzy of their fear. The survivors sought safety on the 
open plain outside the town. 

MARTINIQUE— 1902. 

The Guatemalan earthquake was the precursor of the 
still more disastrous catastrophe on the island of Marti- 
nique a few weeks later. On the 8th of I\± Mount 
Pelee suddenly poured forth flames, ashes and der ly gases, 
which swept down the canon with a tremendous velocity 
toward the Caribbean Sea, and in less than three minutes 
destroyed the beautiful city of Saint Pierre, together with 
more than forty thousand human beings. Not a dozen 
escaped from the place to tell the tale. 



